Donald J. Puff, Financial Advisors
Working for professionals for over 25 years

Phone:  315-488-8885
Fax:  315-488-4865


 

WORKSHOPS

 

Important Changes for 2005 -
Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)

 

Traditional IRA contribution and deduction limit. The contribution limit to your traditional IRA for 2005 will be increased to the smaller of the following amounts:

bullet$4,000, or
bulletYour taxable compensation for the year.

If you reach age 50 before 2006, the most that can be contributed to your traditional IRA for 2005 will be the smaller of the following amounts:

bullet$4,500, or
bulletYour taxable compensation for the year.

For more information, see How Much Can Be Contributed? in chapter 1.

Roth IRA contribution limit. If contributions on your behalf are made only to Roth IRAs, your contribution limit for 2005 will generally be the lesser of:

bullet$4,000, or
bulletYour taxable compensation for the year.

If you are 50 or older in 2005 and contributions on your behalf are made only to Roth IRAs, your contribution limit for 2005 will generally be the lesser of:

bullet$4,500, or
bulletYour taxable compensation for the year.

However, if your modified AGI is above a certain amount, your contribution limit may be reduced. For more information, see How Much Can Be Contributed? under Can You Contribute to a Roth IRA? in chapter 2.

Modified AGI limit for traditional IRA contributions increased. For 2005, if you are covered by a retirement plan at work, your deduction for contributions to a traditional IRA will be reduced (phased out) if your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) is:

bulletMore than $70,000 but less than $80,000 for a married couple filing a joint return or a qualifying widow(er),
bulletMore than $50,000 but less than $60,000 for a single individual or head of household, or
bulletLess than $10,000 for a married individual filing a separate return.

For all filing statuses other than married filing separately, the upper and lower limits of the phaseout range will increase by $5,000. See How Much Can You Deduct? in chapter 1.

Increase in limit on salary reduction contributions under a SIMPLE. For 2005, salary reduction contributions that your employer can make on your behalf under a SIMPLE plan are increased to $10,000 (up from $9,000 in 2004). For more information about salary reduction contributions, see How Much Can Be Contributed on Your Behalf? in chapter 3.

Additional salary reduction contributions to SIMPLE IRAs for persons 50 and older. For 2005, additional salary reduction contributions can be made to your SIMPLE IRA if:

bulletYou will be 50 or older in 2005, and
bulletNo other salary reduction contributions can be made for you to the plan for the year because of limits or restrictions, such as the regular annual limit.

For 2005, the additional amount will be the lesser of the following two amounts.

bullet$2,000 (up from $1,500 for 2004), or
bulletYour compensation for the year reduced by your other elective deferrals for the year.

For more information, see How Much Can Be Contributed on Your Behalf? in chapter 3.

Reminders

Simplified employee pension (SEP). SEP-IRAs are no longer covered in this publication. They are covered in Publication 560, Retirement Plans for Small Business.

Deemed IRAs. For plan years beginning after 2002, a qualified employer plan (retirement plan) can maintain a separate account or annuity under the plan (a deemed IRA) to receive voluntary employee contributions. If the separate account or annuity otherwise meets the requirements of an IRA, it will be subject only to IRA rules. An employee's account can be treated as a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA. For this purpose, a “qualified employer plan” includes:

bulletA qualified pension, profit-sharing, or stock bonus plan (section 401(a) plan),
bulletA qualified employee annuity plan (section 403(a) plan),
bulletA tax-sheltered annuity plan (section 403(b) plan), and
bulletA deferred compensation plan (section 457 plan) maintained by a state, a political subdivision of a state, or an agency or instrumentality of a state or political subdivision of a state.

Statement of required minimum distribution. If a minimum distribution is required from your IRA, the trustee, custodian, or issuer that held the IRA at the end of the preceding year must either report the amount of the required minimum distribution to you, or offer to calculate it for you. The report or offer must include the date by which the amount must be distributed. The report is due January 31 of the year in which the minimum distribution is required. It can be provided with the year-end fair market value statement that you normally get each year. No report is required for section 403(b) contracts (generally tax-sheltered annuities) or for IRAs of owners who have died.

IRA interest. Although interest earned from your IRA is generally not taxed in the year earned, it is not tax-exempt interest. Do not report this interest on your return as tax-exempt interest.

Form 8606. If you make nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA and you do not file Form 8606, Nondeductible IRAs, with your tax return, you may have to pay a $50 penalty.

Roth IRA. You cannot claim a deduction for any contributions to a Roth IRA. But, if you satisfy the requirements, all earnings are tax free and neither your nondeductible contributions nor any earnings on them are taxable when you withdraw them. Roth IRAs are discussed in chapter 2.

 

 

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offered through GWN Securities, Inc.  
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11440 Jog Rd, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418 - (561) 472-2700

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