MAGI and tIRA

[billy]

When calculating my MAGI to see if I can deduct a tIRA, can I deduct pension contribution, realized stock loss, medical premium, standard deduction, and tIRA contribution?

[secondcor521]

Definitely not the standard deduction (which is after AGI is calculated) and definitely not the tIRA contribution itself; that's part of the "M" in MAGI for purposes of whether you can deduct an IRA contribution.

Definitely yes on realized stock losses.

Not sure on pension contribution or medical premium.  If they are deducted from your box 1 W-2 wages, then I would say yes.

[MDM]

For a generic answer, see MAGI for traditional IRA purposes.

[billy]

Thanks, I went to that link and it said, "If you were married and both you and your spouse contributed to IRAs, figure your deduction and your spouse's deduction separately." Not sure what that means as I'm married filing jointly, we both have work retirement account,  and I thought I'm looking at all income together?

I also went here https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/magi.asp and I'm not sure about the income limits, as it says if I'm covered by a work plan then limit for full deduction is $103,000 and if my wife is covered by work plan, the limit is $193,000.

My combined MAGI looks like $118,000

[MDM]

Thanks, I went to that link and it said, "If you were married and both you and your spouse contributed to IRAs, figure your deduction and your spouse's deduction separately." Not sure what that means as I'm married filing jointly, we both have work retirement account,  and I thought I'm looking at all income together?

Assume you were exactly at exactly 50% of the phaseout zone.  What the quote means is that each of you would be limited to deducting half of your maximum contribution and that you could not, for example, call one person's contribution 100% deductible and the other person's contribution 0% deductible.  The I in IRA really does mean "Individual".

I also went here https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/magi.asp and I'm not sure about the income limits, as it says if I'm covered by a work plan then limit for full deduction is $103,000 and if my wife is covered by work plan, the limit is $193,000.

My combined MAGI looks like $118,000

If one is not covered by a work plan but one's spouse is covered, the limit for the non-covered spouse is higher.