Never a good idea, but I was close to finishing so I kept going past midnight on the taxes last night. I ran into something and I'm not sure if it's a software glitch or a mushware glitch (as in mush between my ears)

Anyway, our AGI's close to 50K, and we're in a 401K plan, so the deductability of our traditional IRA's '97 contributions is fading out. I used a 'what if' approach, plugging in different numbers to find the highest deductible contribution, and the software would let me split a total of $480 into the taxpayer and spouse IRAs (240 each) but wouldn't let me put in 0 & 480.

I thought the IRS was more concerned with the total, and didn't care about how it was distributed.

So is this a software glitch, a mushware glitch or an IRS feature?

fundad

Fundad,

<<Never a good idea, but I was close to finishing so I kept going past midnight on the taxes last night. I ran into something and I'm not sure if it's a software glitch or a mushware glitch (as in mush between my ears)

Anyway, our AGI's close to 50K, and we're in a 401K plan, so the deductability of our traditional IRA's '97 contributions is fading out. I used a 'what if' approach, plugging in different numbers to find the highest deductible contribution, and the software would let me split a total of $480 into the taxpayer and spouse IRAs (240 each) but wouldn't let me put in 0 & 480.

I thought the IRS was more concerned with the total, and didn't care about how it was distributed.

So is this a software glitch, a mushware glitch or an IRS feature?>>

Actually, if you read IRS Pub 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements, you will see that the worksheet for a working couple must be completed individually. When you do the individual worksheets, you will as an individual be limited in the amount that can be considered a deductible contribution to your own IRA. In your case, the deductible part is split evenly between the two of you.

Regards…..Pixy