abandoned spouse filing as head of household... IRA contrib

Technical topics regarding tax preparation.
#1
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claiming one dependent child - lived apart from the spouse for the entire year.

can the abandoned spouse (filing as HOH) make an IRA contribution (deductible) or Roth IRA contribution with no consideration as to whether the abandoning spouse had earned income / was covered under an employer retirement plan?
 

#2
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HOH is HOH. You can't be HOH unless you're "considered unmarried" (which evidently this taxpayer is). If you meet the HOH qualifications, you follow all of the HOH rules. Which includes, being that you're considered unmarried, you don't look at a spouse's earned income or retirement plan status to figure your own IRA contribution/deduction limitation.
 

#3
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Can’t you file HOH if you didn’t live together for the last 6 months of the year?
 

#4
HowardS  
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MFJ only.
Retired, no salvage value.
 

#5
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You can file HOH if you meet the following criteria to be considered "not married" even if you are married:

Married individuals considered unmarried. A married individ-
ual can be considered unmarried for HOH filing status purposes
if all the following apply.

• The taxpayer lived apart from his or her spouse for the last six
months of the year. Temporary absences for special circumstances,
such as for business, medical care, school, or military service,
count as time lived in the home.

• The taxpayer does not file a joint return with his or her spouse.
• The taxpayer paid over half the cost of keeping up the home
during the year.
• The taxpayer’s home was the main home of the taxpayer’s child,
stepchild, or foster child for more than half the year.
• The taxpayer claims this child as a dependent, or the child’s
noncustodial parent claims him or her as a dependent under
the rules for children of divorced or separated parents.
 

#6
HowardS  
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Isn't the question about contributing to a spousal IRA?
Retired, no salvage value.
 

#7
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I think, and I may be wrong, that the OP is asking if the abandoned spouse who is filing as HOH can contribute to an IRA without factoring in the other spouses income or the fact that the other spouse is covered by a retirement plan, reducing the AGI for the IRA contribution to be deductible.

In this situation, and I may be extremely wrong here, I would think that since the tax law would consider these two "unmarried" in the terms of claiming HOH status, that the OP's client could forgo factoring in the abdonding spouses income and fact that their spouse is covered by a retirement plan and contribute on their own terms without regards to the spouses income or retirement plan.
 

#8
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Right, warnick, that's how I'm interpreting the question too.
 

#9
HowardS  
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Likely I've interpreted the question incorrectly.
Retired, no salvage value.
 

#10
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Yes, warnick’s read is what I was asking
 


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