What Is IRS Form 5498: IRA Contributions Information?
If you contribute to an IRA, it's time to learn about your 5498 Form. This form is completed by your IRA custodian and includes information about your IRA contributions. Although the 5498 form isn't your responsibility to file, it's still important to understand the form and its implications. Read to learn more.
Key Takeaways
- Your IRA custodian reports contributions that you make on Form 5498 and provides the form to both you and the IRS.
- The form includes details on various types of IRA contributions, such as those to traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, and SEP IRAs.
- Rollovers and conversions to an IRA, though not deductible, are considered contributions and are reported on Form 5498.
- Direct trustee-to-trustee transfers between similar types of IRAs, such as between two traditional IRAs, aren't reported on Form 5498.
Form 5498
When you save for retirement with an individual retirement arrangement (IRA), you probably receive a Form 5498 each year. The institution that manages your IRA is required to report all contributions you make to the account during the tax year on the form. Depending on the type of IRA you have, you may need Form 5498 to report IRA contribution deductions on your tax return.
- Form 5498: IRA Contributions Information reports to the IRS your IRA contributions for the year along with other information about your IRA account.
- Your IRA custodian—not you—is required to file this form with the IRS, usually by May 31.
- You won't find this form in TurboTax, nor do you file it with your tax return. The copy you receive in the mail is for your records.
Understanding Form 5498
Form 5498 reports various types of IRA contributions you make and other account information in the reporting boxes of the form.
- Box 1 shows the amount you contributed to an IRA.
- Box 9 reports the amounts contributed to a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) IRA while box 8 documents Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) contributions.
- Box 10 covers the amounts you put into a Roth IRA.
- Although a rollover or conversion of assets from one retirement plan into an IRA isn’t deductible, they are considered contributions and will be reported in boxes 2 and 3 of Form 5498.
Direct trustee-to-trustee transfers are not usually reported on Form 5498, including transfers from a:
- traditional IRA to another traditional IRA or to a SEP IRA
- SIMPLE IRA to another SIMPLE IRA
- SEP IRA to another SEP IRA or to a traditional IRA
- Roth IRA to another Roth IRA
If you’re unsure what type of IRA you have, your account administrator may indicate whether it’s a traditional, Roth, SIMPLE or a SEP in box 7.
Traditional IRA contributions
If you are eligible, you can make tax deductible contributions to a traditional IRA and accumulate earnings within the IRA tax-free until you are required to begin making withdrawals—usually in the year you turn 73. When you start taking withdrawals, you then need to report the appropriate amounts as income on your tax return and pay the appropriate amount of income tax, if necessary.
- There are limits on the amounts reported in box 1 of Form 5498 that you can deduct each year.
- Contributions have to come from earned income such as from a job and self-employment.
- Each year, the tax law imposes maximum contribution amounts.
- However, if you’re covered under another tax-advantaged retirement plan at work or your spouse makes contributions to a different IRA account, you may not be eligible to take the full contribution deduction.
TurboTax Tip:
“The annual IRA contribution limit is higher for people who are at least 50 years old. The extra amount that people 50 and older can put in their IRAs is called a ‘catch-up’ contribution. It’s also reported along with other contributions on Form 5498.” – Rocky Mengle, Attorney
IRA deadline
The great thing about a traditional IRA is that, even if you make contributions in the following tax year, the IRS lets you take a deduction for some of these IRA contributions on your prior-year tax return. Typically, you must make your contributions by the filing deadline, not including extensions.
- In other words, if you're filing your 2024 taxes, the contributions you make to a traditional IRA through the April filing deadline in 2025 may be deductible.
- When you make a contribution to your IRA, you will need to specify what year it is for. This is why your account administrator has until later in the year to send Form 5498 to you.
Roth IRA contributions
Saving with a Roth IRA has some tax advantages, but you cannot use your contributions as a tax deduction. The reason that contributions to a Roth IRA aren’t deductible is because the withdrawals you make during retirement, even the earnings portions, typically aren’t taxable.
Even though you can't get a tax deduction for contributing to a ROTH IRA, you may be able to take the saver’s tax credit for your contributions (and with traditional IRA contributions) if your income is below certain levels and you satisfy other requirements.
SIMPLE and SEP Plans
If you participate in a SIMPLE IRA at work, your employer can withhold contributions directly from each of your paychecks on a pretax basis and deposit them into your retirement account. Income taxes are calculated on your salary only after reductions for your contributions to the retirement account.
In this case, you cannot deduct the contribution amounts reported on Form 5498. When your employer uses a SEP plan instead of a SIMPLE plan, only your employer can make contributions to your IRA account. Therefore, the amounts you see on Form 5498 for the SIMPLE IRA aren’t deductible to you.
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