Who Can Set Up a Traditional IRA?

You can set up and make contributions to a traditional IRA if you (or, if you file a joint return, your spouse) received taxable compensation during the year and you were not age 70 1/2 by the end of the year.

You can have a traditional IRA whether or not you are covered by any other retirement plan. However, you may not be able to deduct all of your contributions if you or your spouse are covered by an employer retirement plan. See How Much Can I Deduct?, later.

Both spouses have compensation. If both you and your spouse have compensation and are under age 70 1/2, each of you can set up an IRA. You cannot both participate in the same IRA.

What Is Compensation?

As stated earlier, to set up and contribute to a traditional IRA, you or your spouse must have received taxable compensation. This rule applies to both deductible and nondeductible contributions. Generally, what you earn from working is compensation.

Compensation includes the items discussed next.

Wages, salaries, etc. Wages, salaries, tips, professional fees, bonuses, and other amounts you receive for providing personal services are compensation. The IRS treats as compensation any amount properly shown in box 1 (Wages, tips, other compensation) of Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, provided that amount is reduced by any amount properly shown in box 11 (Nonqualified plans). Scholarship and fellowship payments are compensation for this purpose only if shown in box 1 of Form W-2.

Commissions. An amount you receive that is a percentage of profits or sales price is compensation.

Self-employment income. If you are self-employed (a sole proprietor or a partner), compensation is the net earnings from your trade or business (provided your personal services are a material income-producing factor), reduced by the deduction for contributions made on your behalf to retirement plans and the deduction allowed for one-half of your self-employment taxes.

Compensation includes earnings from self-employment even if they are not subject to self-employment tax because of your religious beliefs. See Publication 533, Self-Employment Tax, for more information.

When you have both self-employment income and salaries and wages, your compensation includes both amounts.

Self-employment loss. If you have a net loss from self-employment, do not subtract the loss from your salaries or wages when figuring your total compensation.

Alimony and separate maintenance. Treat as compensation any taxable alimony and separate maintenance payments you receive under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance.

What Is Not Compensation?

Compensation does not include any of the following items.

• Earnings and profits from property, such as rental income, interest income, and dividend income.
• Pension or annuity income.
• Deferred compensation received (compensation payments postponed from a past year).
• Income from a partnership for which you do not provide services that are a material income-producing factor.
• Any amounts you exclude from income, such as foreign earned income and housing costs.

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