To know whether you contributed to an IRA, start with IRS Form 5498. Your account custodian is required to send one for every year you put money into a traditional, Roth, SEP, or SIMPLE IRA, and the dollar amount on that form is the definitive answer. If you don’t have the form, your tax return, pay stubs, bank statements, and the custodian’s own records can each confirm it.
Start With IRS Form 5498
Form 5498 is the single strongest proof that you contributed to an IRA in a given tax year. Federal law requires every IRA trustee or issuer to report contributions to both the IRS and the account holder.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 408 – Individual Retirement Accounts – Section: Reports Because you can make prior-year contributions all the way through the April filing deadline, custodians don’t finalize the form until after that window closes. They’re required to send you the contribution information by June 1 of the following year.2Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498
When the form arrives, two boxes tell you what you need:
- Box 1 reports contributions to a traditional IRA, not counting SEP, SIMPLE, or rollover amounts, which appear in their own boxes.
- Box 10 reports contributions to a Roth IRA.
A dollar figure in either box confirms you contributed that year.2Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 Keep every Form 5498 you receive. You may need it years later to prove the tax basis in your account when you start taking withdrawals.
Check What Your Tax Return Shows
Your filed return can also reveal an IRA contribution, but what appears there depends on the type of account.
Traditional IRA Deduction
A deductible traditional IRA contribution shows up on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 20, labeled “IRA deduction.”3Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Schedule 1 (Form 1040) – Additional Income and Adjustments to Income If line 20 shows a number, you contributed to a traditional IRA that year and claimed the deduction.
Roth IRA
Roth contributions are made with after-tax dollars and never appear as a deduction. A blank line 20 does not mean you skipped an IRA. It may just mean you have a Roth. Form 5498, Box 10, is your primary verification for Roth activity.
Nondeductible Traditional Contributions
If your income was too high to deduct a traditional IRA contribution but you contributed anyway, you should have filed Form 8606 with your return. That form tracks your after-tax basis so you don’t get taxed twice on the same money when you withdraw it.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8606 Look through past returns for a Form 8606. If one is attached, you made a nondeductible traditional IRA contribution that year.
Look at Bank and Brokerage Statements
Monthly bank statements often show automated transfers to an investment firm. Look for recurring debits to companies like Vanguard, Fidelity, or Schwab. The transaction description may include the firm’s name or a reference code, and most online banking portals let you filter transactions by payee or date range.
A transfer to an investment firm doesn’t by itself prove the money landed in an IRA rather than an ordinary taxable brokerage account. It only tells you where the money went. Once you know the destination, confirm the account type with the custodian.
Read Your Pay Stub and W-2
Some employers offer a payroll deduction IRA, where part of your paycheck goes directly into an IRA you opened with a financial institution. A line item on your pay stub labeled “Payroll Deduction IRA” or something similar means your employer is forwarding money to your account each pay period.5Internal Revenue Service. Payroll Deduction IRA
Here’s the catch: payroll deduction IRA contributions do not appear on your W-2, and the “Retirement Plan” checkbox in Box 13 is not marked for this arrangement.5Internal Revenue Service. Payroll Deduction IRA The IRA is yours, not an employer plan; the employer is only forwarding the deduction. So you can’t rely on the W-2 alone to detect one.
Employer Plans That Are Not IRAs
Some W-2 codes flag retirement contributions but aren’t proof of an IRA. Box 12 uses these codes:6Internal Revenue Service. Common Errors on Form W-2 Codes for Retirement Plans
- Code D means 401(k) salary deferrals.
- Code E means 403(b) salary deferrals.
- Code S means SIMPLE IRA salary reductions.
Code D or E means you have a 401(k) or 403(b), not an IRA. Code S means you participate in a SIMPLE IRA, which is a type of IRA with its own contribution rules. If Box 13’s “Retirement Plan” box is checked but no code S appears in Box 12, and no salary reduction is shown, you may have a SEP IRA funded by your employer; SEP contributions aren’t included in Box 12 amounts.7Internal Revenue Service. Simplified Employee Pension Plan (SEP)
Log Into the Account or Call the Custodian
The quickest confirmation is often the account itself. Log into the brokerage or bank that might hold your IRA and check the account overview page. Custodians label each account by type: Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA, or plain Individual Brokerage Account. An account only functions as an IRA if the custodian’s records designate it as one. Holding stocks or mutual funds inside an account doesn’t make it an IRA.
If the label isn’t obvious online, call customer service. Custodians keep detailed records to meet federal reporting requirements and can tell you whether your assets sit in a tax-advantaged IRA or a taxable account.8Internal Revenue Service. Reporting IRA and Retirement Plan Transactions You can ask specifically whether the account is governed under Section 408 (traditional IRA) or Section 408A (Roth IRA) of the Internal Revenue Code.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 408 – Individual Retirement Accounts
Request an IRS Transcript
If you’ve lost your Form 5498 and don’t have copies of your old returns, request a wage and income transcript from the IRS. It compiles what the IRS received from your employers and financial institutions, including IRA contribution data reported on Form 5498. You can get it through your IRS Online Account, by calling 800-908-9946, or by mailing Form 4506-T. Online transcripts are available immediately; mailed copies arrive in five to ten days.10Internal Revenue Service. Get Your Tax Records and Transcripts
Between the custodian’s Form 5498, your tax return, your pay stub, and, if needed, an IRS transcript, you have four independent ways to verify not only that you contributed but which kind of IRA received the money. If two sources agree, you have your answer.