IRA deduction

[ardi600]

this is a follow up to my earlier post in regards to deductability of IRA contribution. Married couple, husband with 169500 income and the wife with no income. box 13 of the husband's w2 is not checked, so he does not participate in a work related retirement account.
based on the above they both could have a deductable IRA and contribute 5000 each. am I correct on this?

[ChEAr$]

this is a follow up to my earlier post in regards to deductability of IRA contribution. Married couple, husband with 169500 income and the wife with no income. box 13 of the husband's w2 is not checked, so he does not participate in a work related retirement account.
based on the above they both could have a deductable IRA and contribute 5000 each. am I correct on this?

What page in TheTaxbook are you looking at?

[dan doshan]

this is a follow up to my earlier post in regards to deductability of IRA contribution. Married couple, husband with 169500 income and the wife with no income. box 13 of the husband's w2 is not checked, so he does not participate in a work related retirement account.
based on the above they both could have a deductable IRA and contribute 5000 each. am I correct on this?

Seems to be. If neither spouse is an active participant in a retirement plan their is no phaseout limit as far as income. Or so I understand.

[appelman]

Don't forget catch-up contribution

Allowed if either is 50 or older.

[Burke]

Based on the facts above, the TP and spouse should be able to contribute the max to an IRA for each of them, as there is no phaseout rule if not participating in a retirement plan for the entire year. The income (for a w-2 employee) is not modest, however. Are you sure there is no retirement plan in place for this company and that the box was left unchecked in error? The employee should know.

[Gary2]

Based on the facts above, the TP and spouse should be able to contribute the max to an IRA for each of them, as there is no phaseout rule if not participating in a retirement plan for the entire year. The income (for a w-2 employee) is not modest, however. Are you sure there is no retirement plan in place for this company and that the box was left unchecked in error? The employee should know.

Good point about the box not being checked in error, as it's unusual for someone in this income range to not have retirement plans at work.

But note that there's never a phaseout for contributions to traditional IRAs. The phaseout it for deducting the contribution.

[ardi600]

the tax payer is a contracting employee who gets paid hourly

So i could see the reason for box 13 not being cheked. Thanks for all the replies