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May 9, 2024
Question

Can i contribute tax refund money in ROTH IRA ?

  • May 9, 2024
  • 3 replies
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3 replies

Employee
May 9, 2024

Did you have any income earned from working?    In order to put money into a Roth, you have to have income that you earned.  A tax refund is not earned income.

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**
Employee
May 9, 2024

To make any contribution to an IRA, you must have compensation.  Normally, this means either self-employment on a schedule C, or wages on a W-2.

 

If you have compensation, then it doesn't matter where a specific dollar came from.  The tax refund goes into your bank account, it gets mixed up with all your other money and loses its identity, it's just money no matter where it came from.  And you can take money out to contribute to the IRA, as mentioned, it doesn't matter where it comes from and money doesn't actually have an identity once you have it.

 

But if you don't have compensation, you can't contribute to any IRA, no matter what other sources of income you might have. 

Hal_Al
Employee
May 12, 2024

Under very  limited circumstances, a tax refund may be considered "income". But. it is not earned income ("compensation") for the purpose of being eligible to make an IRA contribution.