Even though we are now in a new year, 2021 contributions can still be made to many investment accounts. This can be one of the many confusing characteristics of financial accounts. The deadline of when contributions need to be made are not synchronized. Below is a highlight of some of the major ones you may encounter. Traditional IRA - Deadline to contribute April 18th, 2022 for most taxpayers. Let your custodian know you want it to apply to 2021 if that is the case. Roth IRA - Same as above. The deadline to contribute is April 18th, 2022 for most taxpayers. Let your custodian know you want it to apply to 2021 if that is the case. 401k - If you are a regular W2 employee and not a business owner, generally speaking, you can no longer make contributions for 2021. HSA - The deadline to contribute is April 18th, 2022 for most taxpayers. While contributions typically flow through payroll (and that is usually preferred), you typically can make contributions directly to the account as well. Let the custodian know you want it to apply to 2021 if that is your desire. 529 - For most states, the deadline for contributions is year end. Therefore if you make a contribution now to your Indiana 529 for example, you would take any applicable credit on your 2022 return that you file in 2023. There are a few states that have a later deadline though. A few items to note:
Business owners have several more options than the above.
Even if the contribution deadline date has not passed, that is not a guarantee you are allowed to make a contribution. There are other factors to consider like where your income level is at or what health plan you have for example.
This article is general in nature and each situation needs to be given a full review.
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!
Correction: Generally speaking, the deadline for these contributions is the federal tax filing deadline (not including extensions). This is typically April 15th (previously reported in this post). Due to Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia, the federal tax filing deadline for most taxpayers has been extended to April 18th (April 19th for those in Maine or Massachusetts). At the time of this post, the IRS website still says IRA contributions are due April 15th (though I believe this information to be out of date). While I expect the deadline for these particular contributions is April 18th for most taxpayers, if you are waiting until the last minute I would confirm the deadline as we get closer to April especially since it is possible for the deadline to shift. This post will not be updated for additional changes to the deadline.
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