How to Get the Saver's Credit
Low income workers who save for retirement using a 401(k) or IRA can earn a tax credit worth up to $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for couples in 2011 and future years.
[See How to Save for Retirement on a Low Income.]
The saver's credit can be claimed by workers whose modified adjusted gross incomes are up to $28,250 for singles, $42,375 for heads of households, and $56,500 for married couples in 2011. In 2012 those income limits will increase to $28,750 for singles, $43,125 for heads of households, and $57,500 for couples.
The first $2,000 workers contribute to an IRA, 401(k), or similar workplace retirement account can count towards the saver's credit. The credit can be used to increase your refund or reduce the tax you owe. This tax credit is available in addition to the tax deferral you get for making a traditional 401(k) and IRA contribution and any 401(k) match you get from your employer.
Consider a married couple who earned $30,000 in 2011 and contributed $1,000 to an IRA. They will be able to claim a $500 tax credit for their $1,000 IRA contribution.
[See 11 Retirement Benefit Changes Coming in 2012.]
Saver's credits totaling just over $1 billion were claimed on approximately 6.25 million individual income tax returns in 2009. The credit varies based on your income and tax filing status and ranges from 10 percent to 50 percent of the amount you saved up to $2,000. Most taxpayers received modest tax credits for their retirement account contributions. Saver's credits averaged $121 for single filers, $159 for heads of households, and $202 for married couples. "Though the maximum saver's credit is $1,000, $2,000 for married couples, it is often much less and, due in part to the impact of other deductions and credits, may, in fact, be zero for some taxpayers," the IRS says in a statement.
Awareness of the saver's credit is increasing, but remains low. Just 21 percent of people earning less than $50,000 say they are aware of the saver's credit, according to a Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies online survey of 4,080 workers age 18 and older at for-profit companies, but that's up from 12 percent in 2010.
The saver's credit was first added to the tax code in 2002 as a temporary provision, and was then made permanent in 2006. Income limits are now adjusted annually to keep pace with inflation. Workers under age 18, full-time students, and individuals claimed as dependents on someone else's tax return are not eligible for the credit. Rollovers and trustee-to-trustee transfers into retirement accounts don't count toward the credit. Your eligible contributions may be reduced by recent distributions you have taken from a retirement account.
[See 12 Retirement Resolutions for 2012.]
Workers interested in getting the saver's credit in 2011 must make 401(k), 403(b), 457, or Thrift Savings Plan contributions by the end of the calendar year. However, retirement savers have until April 17, 2012 to add money to an IRA that will allow them to get the credit in tax year 2011.
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