Is earned income required to contribute to an individual retirement account (an “IRA”)? If you’re married, it may not be, thanks to the Spousal IRA.
The Spousal IRA is a great opportunity for families to build financial stability, and perhaps get a juicy tax deduction, even if only one of the spouses work outside of the home. It can help families save for the future and prioritize other important goals such as raising children.
IRA Basics
There are two types of IRAs that most working Americans can consider. I did a primer about them here.
A traditional IRA offers tax-deferred growth and the possibility of a tax deduction for contributions. While distributions from a traditional IRA in retirement are taxable, many will find that traditional IRA distributions in retirement are only lightly taxed.
A Roth IRA offers no tax deduction on the way in, but features tax-free growth and tax-free withdrawals in retirement.
Both can be a great way to build up tax-advantaged wealth for retirement.
IRA Contribution Limits
The limit on IRA contributions for 2023 is the lesser of $6,500 or earned income ($7,500 or earned income if you are age 50 or older in 2023). The limit on IRA contributions for 2024 is the lesser of $7,000 or earned income ($8,000 or earned income if you are age 50 or older in 2024). Remember that traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs share that contribution limit, so a dollar contributed to a traditional IRA is a dollar that cannot be contributed to a Roth IRA and vice-versa.
IRA Contribution Deadlines
Generally speaking, the deadline to contribute to either a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA is April 15th of the following year. The deadline cannot be extended even if the taxpayer files for an extension to file their own tax return. On rare occasions the IRS may provide a very limited exception to the April 15th IRA contribution deadline.
The Spousal IRA
For purposes of having earned income allowing one to make an IRA contribution (tradition and/or Roth), a non-working spouse can use their spouse’s earned income for purposes of making either (or both) a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA contribution.
Here is an example:
Joe and Mary are married. Joe has a W-2 job and Mary does not. Mary can make an IRA contribution (a Spousal IRA) based on Joe’s W-2 earned income.
The Spousal IRA can be used to increase tax-advantaged retirement savings. It can also be used to strategically optimize tax deductions. Many W-2 workers are covered by a workplace 401(k) plan. Thus, based on low income limits, it is difficult for them to deduct a traditional IRA contribution.
However, when one is not covered by a workplace retirement plan, it is much easier to qualify to deduct a traditional IRA contribution. It is often the case that a Spousal IRA will offer a potential tax deduction when the working spouse is not able to deduct a traditional IRA contribution.
Split-Year Spousal IRA Contribution Example
As I write this, the 2024 tax return season (for 2023 tax returns) is about to get started. Now’s the time to be thinking about 2023 IRA contributions if you have not yet made one!
There’s still plenty of time to contribute to an IRA (traditional or Roth) for the year 2023. Some of that planning might involve strategically employing a Spousal IRA. Here’s an example:
Mark and Theresa, both age 41, are married and have three children. They live in California. Mark works a W-2 job and Theresa does not have earned income. Mark is covered by a 401(k) at work. Their modified adjusted gross income (“MAGI”) for 2023 is $190,000. This puts them in the 22% marginal federal income tax bracket and the 9.3% marginal California income tax bracket. They have made no IRA contributions for either of them for 2023 going into tax season.
It is early April 2024 and Mark and Theresa are about to file their tax returns. They see they have $8,500 in cash available to use to make 2023 IRA contributions. What they might want to do is contribute $6,500 to a 2023 deductible traditional IRA for Theresa (a Spousal IRA) and the remaining $2,000 to a 2023 Roth IRA for Mark, since he cannot deduct a traditional IRA contribution. By prioritizing a tax deduction, Mark and Theresa save $2,034.50 on their 2023 income taxes.
The Spousal IRA as a Backdoor Roth IRA
The Spousal IRA can be executed as a Backdoor Roth IRA. Here is an example:
Jack and Betty, both age 42, are married. Jack works a W-2 job and Betty does not have earned income. Jack is covered by a 401(k) at work. Their MAGI for 2024 is $260,000 and thus neither of them qualify to make a regular annual contribution to a Roth IRA.
Assuming Betty has no balances in traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, and SIMPLE IRAs (and thus does not have a Pro-Rata Rule problem), Betty can contribute $7,000 to a nondeductible traditional IRA and then convert that amount (plus any growth) to a Roth IRA. Doing so uses a Spousal IRA to implement a Backdoor Roth IRA.
Spousal IRA Tax Return Reporting
To report a deductible traditional Spousal IRA contribution, the amount of the contribution must be reported on Schedule 1, line 20, filed with the couple’s annual federal income tax return.
To report a nondeductible traditional Spousal IRA contribution, the amount of the contribution must be reported on Part I of the Form 8606.
There is no required federal income tax return reporting for a Roth Spousal IRA contribution. However, such contributions should be entered into the tax return software to help determine the potential eligibility for a retirement savers’ credit.
Conclusion
The Spousal IRA creates a great opportunity for married couples to save for retirement and possibly gain access to valuable tax deductions. It can help married couples focus on important priorities such as child rearing and still make significant contributions to retirement accounts.
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This post is for entertainment and educational purposes only. It does not constitute accounting, financial, legal, or tax advice. Please consult with your advisor(s) regarding your personal accounting, financial, legal, and tax matters. Please also refer to the Disclaimer & Warning section found here.
Excellent blog post!
We already have a spousal Roth IRA but the deductibility of a spousal Traditional IRA was not on my radar. I am income ineligible to deductible a Traditional IRA because of my workplace 401k, but it didn’t occur to me that my non-working spouse may still be eligible for the deduction.
Readers should click on your links to learn more about the phase-outs on the spousal IRA too even if the spouse doesn’t have access to a workplace retirement plan.
Unfortunately, we have already funded our spousal Roth for 2023 so we will have to implement this in 2024.
Thank you for reading and commenting. I appreciate it!
You raise an interesting issue: one is not stuck with their initial IRA contribution choice (trad or Roth) if they recharacterize the contribution and related earnings prior to the extended due date of the tax return. See https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/26/1.408A-5 (Answer 10, Examples 2 and 3) and Natalie Choate’s Life and Death Planning for Retirement Benefits (8th Ed.) treatise (pages 347 and 354-355).
While I can’t give you advice as to what you and/or your wife should do, I can observe that is it possible for one who made a 2023 Roth IRA contribution to recharacterize it (and the related earnings) to a traditional IRA. If such a person recharacterized a Roth IRA contribution (and related earnings) as a traditional IRA contribution and their situation allowed them to deduct the contribution, it would allow them to take the deduction on their tax return. Consider also there are tax return reporting requirements https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590a#en_US_2022_publink1000230697 (see also the Form 8606 and its instructions).