The Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA Receives Congressional Agreement

By Beverly DeVeny, IRA Technical Expert

Follow Me on Twitter: @BevIRAEdSlott

The Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA: what a mouthful! We now have this thanks to a bill that was signed into law on July 25, 2013 that renamed the section of the tax code that specifies the spousal IRA contribution limit.

Kay Bailey Hutchison was one of the sponsors of the bill that increased the spousal IRA contribution limit to equal what a working spouse can contribute to an IRA. For 2013, that amount is $5,500, but if you are 50 or older by the end of this year, you can add an additional $1,000 for a total contribution of $6,500. The working spouse’s earnings must equal or exceed the amount of all IRA contributions. If you are turning age 70 ½ this year or are older, you can’t make a contribution to your IRA, even if your spouse is still working (and even if your spouse is under age 70 ½).

Kay Bailey Hutchison did not seek reelection in 2012. Her colleagues in the Senate chose to honor her service and her dedication to women’s issues by renaming this section of the tax code. And, for whatever reason, enough members of Congress could agree on this issue to pass the bill.

Meanwhile, we have a host of  issues that need to be resolved that will impact the well-being of all American citizens and, on these issues, Congress chooses to continue to posture and hold its uncompromising positions. Tax reform has been pushed off to the fall. We have major budget issues, which look like they will never be resolved. There are many, many presidential appointment positions that continually go unfilled because of Congressional actions – not inaction.

But we have the Kay Bailey Hutchison spousal IRA. On that, Congress could agree. Maybe we can build on this.

Receive Ed Slott and Company Articles Straight to Your Inbox!
Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

 

Content Citation Guidelines

Below is the required verbiage that must be added to any re-branded piece from Ed Slott and Company, LLC or IRA Help, LLC. The verbiage must be used any time you take text from a piece and put it onto your own letterhead, within your newsletter, on your website, etc. Verbiage varies based on where you’re taking the content from.

Please be advised that prior to distributing re-branded content, you must send a proof to [email protected] for approval.

For white papers/other outflow pieces:

Copyright © [year of publication], [Ed Slott and Company, LLC or IRA Help, LLC – depending on what it says on the original piece] Reprinted with permission [Ed Slott and Company, LLC or IRA Help, LLC – depending on what it says on the original piece] takes no responsibility for the current accuracy of this information.

For charts:

Copyright © [year of publication], Ed Slott and Company, LLC Reprinted with permission Ed Slott and Company, LLC takes no responsibility for the current accuracy of this information.

For Slott Report articles:

Copyright © [year of article], Ed Slott and Company, LLC Reprinted from The Slott Report, [insert date of article], with permission. [Insert article URL] Ed Slott and Company, LLC takes no responsibility for the current accuracy of this article.

Please contact Matt Smith at [email protected] or (516) 536-8282 with any questions.