Last Day to Fund Your IRA
Some taxpayers race to fund an IRA before the deadline.
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Individual retirement accounts are excellent retirement savings tools. In addition, for traditional IRAs, all or a portion of your contributions may be fully tax deductible. Consequently, many taxpayers make last-minute additions to their IRAs to reduce their tax burden for the recently ended tax year. To take advantage of this option, it is important to know the deadline to fund your IRA.
Roth and Traditional IRA
The last day to fund a Roth or traditional IRA is April 15 -- the day personal tax returns are due. For the 2012 tax year, you have until April 15, 2013 to set up an IRA account or to contribute 2012 funds into your account. For the 2013 tax year, the last day to contribute 2013 funds is April 15, 2014. If you contribute to an IRA between Jan. 1 and April 15, you must clearly designate the year for which you are contributing.
Amounts and Deductibility
The maximum total IRA contribution is $5,000 for the 2012 tax year; it's $6,000 if you're 50 or older. For 2013 those maximums increase to $5,500 and $6,500. If you're single and you're not covered by an employer's retirement plan, or if you're married and neither of you is covered, your contributions to a traditional IRA are fully deductible. If you're single or married and either or both of you are covered by company-sponsored retirement plans, the deductible amount decreases with higher income levels. It drops to zero deductibility at the maximum.
SIMPLE IRA
As with a traditional IRA, the last days for employees to contribute funds to a SIMPLE IRA are April 15, 2013 for the 2012 tax year, and April 15, 2014 for the 2013 tax year. Typically, you contribute a percentage of your wages, or a specified amount, via payroll deduction from each paycheck. However, some companies allow contributions from bonuses or commissions.
More SIMPLE IRA
In January, February or March, companies often pay bonuses for the previous calendar year. An employee could use these funds to add to her SIMPLE IRA. The employee contribution limits for a SIMPLE IRA are $11,500 for 2012 and $12,000 for 2013. For employees who are 50 or older, the amounts are $14,000 for 2012 and $14,500 for 2013.
References
Writer Bio
Tiffany C. Wright has been writing since 2007. She is a business owner, interim CEO and author of "Solving the Capital Equation: Financing Solutions for Small Businesses." Wright has helped companies obtain more than $31 million in financing. She holds a master's degree in finance and entrepreneurial management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.