There are of course limitations on the destructibility of IRA contributions when “covered” by a retirement plan at work. However when does the covered period apply? Is there any defined day that “covered by a plan” looks at? last day of the year, first day of the year, any day of the year?

Someone was let go from work early in 2020. However they had money saved and ended up getting some severance and then unemployment etc. So In this case they have the money and would like to make an IRA contribution for 2020 to reduce their tax liability. However it looks like they can’t make a deductible contribution as their 2020 W-2 says they had a retirement plan at work. However since they were let go in early 2020, they had no opportunity to actually fund much of anything into that plan, thus they would like to make the IRA contribution.

Is there any way to “override” being covered by a plan at work to get the deduction, when you weren’t really covered by a plan at work for most of the year? Or are you just out of luck because you were covered by a plan for a month or two even though you didn’t get your full IRA contribution (let alone 401k limit) into your account.