- quote -

I would suggest the possibility of a CPA as well. Or at
least get some easier tax software. You can get a turbo tax
for like $20 at your local staples, and I feel it will be
much easier to use. I am not keen on the H&R software, so I
do not want to give any advice on that now...

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Robert Rathbone wrote:

- quote -

Hold the phone. Only your wife has paid into that IRA,
not the two of you as you last sentence seems to indicate.
There is no such thing as a joint IRA.

Now then, hospitals usually do have a retirement plan, so
when you see the retirement plan box checked, that is
probably not in error.

I know of one hospital in this area (Columbus, GA) which
ALSO affords employees the opportunity of voluntarily
contributing from their pay check to their own IRA. This
has absolutely nothing to do with the W2 form. If that
employee otherwise qualifies (e.g. less than 70,000$ AGI)
then the contributions to the IRA ARE deductible. However
if not the case, there are other problems, like excess
contributions.

Perhaps a sensible solution would be to engage the services
of a local tax pro, e.g. Enrolled Agent (EA) or Certified
Public accountant (CPA). in your area.

Cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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Robert Rathbone wrote:

- quote -

You need to contact Hospital A and find out why the box is
checked. The box should only be checked if your wife
participated in an employer retirement plan. An IRA is not
an employer retirement plan. Look carefully at the W-2 and
see if there is an entry in Box 12 with a code D, E, F, G, H
OR S. Also look to see if soc. security wages is higher than
Box 1 Wages. All of this is a clue that she may have
contributed pre-tax to a retirement plan. Finally, the box
could also be checked if she was covered by a defined
benefit plan. A retirement plan that does not require
employee contributions.

--
Alan
http://taxtopics.net

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My wife worked at a local hospital (Hospital A) for the
first 5 weeks of 2003 and then left there to work at another
local hospital (Hospital B) where she worked for the
remainder of the year. While working at Hospital A she had
withdrawals taken out on an IRA for $50 each pay period.
Hospital B does not offer an IRA, but we've been continuing
payments to the IRA from Hospital A independent of that
hospital.

When she got the W-2 from Hospital A, the "Retirement" box
had an "X" in it signifying that my wife had a retirement
account provided by her employer, but she only had $125 of
her income go toward the IRA since she only worked there 5
weeks that year. We've paid considerably more than that
ourselves since then.

I'm using H&R Block's Taxcut software to do our taxes and it
won't let us apply the amount we've paid to the IRA after
she left Hospital A unless I remove the "X" from the W-2.
My question is: Would the IRS consider it fraud if I remove
the "X" so I can take the adjustment or do I need to go to
Hospital A and get them to fix the W-2? Or is this a tax
technicality that won't allow me to benefit from the money
we're paid in on this IRA?

Thanks for your advice,
Robert Rathbone

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