Where Does an IRA Contribution Go on Form 1040?

An IRA contribution shows up on Form 1040 in one of three ways, depending on the account type and whether the contribution is deductible. A deductible Traditional IRA contribution goes on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), Part II, Line 20, where it reduces your adjusted gross income before flowing back to the main Form 1040.¹ A non-deductible Traditional IRA contribution skips Schedule 1 and gets reported on Form 8606 instead. A Roth IRA contribution doesn’t appear on your return at all, because there’s no current-year deduction to claim.

Deductible Traditional IRA: Schedule 1, Line 20

If your Traditional IRA contribution is deductible, it’s an above-the-line adjustment to income. You enter the deductible amount on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), Part II (“Adjustments to Income”), Line 20.¹

After you complete Part II, the total of all adjustments flows to your main Form 1040. On the 2025 version of the return, the consolidated figure from Schedule 1 lands on Form 1040, Line 13b, reducing total income to arrive at AGI. Line numbers on Form 1040 can shift between tax years, so check the current instructions, but the sequence stays the same: the IRA deduction enters on Schedule 1, and the form carries it to the right line on 1040.

The dollar amount you put on Line 20 is not always your full contribution. If your income puts you inside a phase-out range, you use the worksheet in IRS Publication 590-A to calculate a reduced deduction, and only the reduced figure goes on Schedule 1. Any remaining non-deductible portion gets tracked separately on Form 8606.

Non-Deductible Traditional IRA: Form 8606

If your income is too high for a deduction, or if only part of your contribution qualifies, the non-deductible piece goes on Form 8606 (“Nondeductible IRAs”), not on Schedule 1.² It doesn’t reduce your AGI, and it doesn’t appear anywhere on Form 1040 as a current-year adjustment.

Part I of Form 8606 handles the contribution side. Line 1 is where you enter the current year’s non-deductible amount. Line 2 captures the basis you’ve carried forward from prior years. The form combines these to keep a running total of after-tax dollars in your Traditional IRAs.³

This tracking matters more than most people realize. Your basis is the total after-tax money you’ve put into Traditional IRAs over your lifetime. When you take distributions in retirement, the IRS uses that figure to work out how much of each withdrawal has already been taxed. Without a filed Form 8606, the IRS has no record of your basis, and you can end up paying tax again on money you already paid tax on when you earned it. Keep copies of every 8606 you file. The IRS doesn’t track basis for you.

Failing to file Form 8606 when required carries a $50 penalty, which the IRS can waive for reasonable cause.²

Roth IRA: Nothing on Your Return

A Roth IRA contribution doesn’t go anywhere on Form 1040 or Schedule 1. You fund a Roth with after-tax dollars, get no deduction, and have nothing to enter. Your IRA custodian reports the contribution to the IRS on Form 5498. You’ll get a copy for your records, but you don’t attach it to your return or file it yourself.⁴

That said, Roth contributions have their own income limits. If your MAGI is too high, you aren’t allowed to contribute directly to a Roth at all, and any amount you did put in becomes an excess contribution subject to a 6% excise tax until you correct it.

Backdoor Roth: Both Parts of Form 8606

High earners who are shut out of direct Roth contributions often contribute to a non-deductible Traditional IRA and then convert that balance to a Roth. Even though the money ends up in a Roth, the reporting doesn’t disappear.

The contribution side goes on Form 8606, Part I, as a non-deductible Traditional IRA contribution. The conversion side goes on Part II, which calculates how much of the converted amount is taxable.² The converted amount also appears on Form 1040, Line 4a, as a distribution from a Traditional IRA.

If you have no other pre-tax money in Traditional IRAs and you converted the same amount you just contributed, the taxable portion should be close to zero, aside from any small earnings that accrued between the contribution and the conversion. If you do have pre-tax balances in other Traditional IRAs, the pro-rata rule looks at your total Traditional IRA balance across all accounts, not just the one you converted, and a significant chunk of the conversion will be taxable.

How to Tell Which Bucket You’re In

Whether your Traditional IRA contribution is deductible depends on your income and whether you or your spouse participates in a workplace retirement plan such as a 401(k) or 403(b). If neither of you is covered by a workplace plan, the full Traditional IRA contribution is deductible regardless of income, and it goes on Schedule 1. If one of you is covered, the IRS phases the deduction out based on your modified adjusted gross income.⁵

For 2026, the phase-out ranges for the Traditional IRA deduction are:

Single or head of household covered by a workplace plan: full deduction with MAGI of $81,000 or less, partial between $81,000 and $91,000, none above $91,000.
Married filing jointly, contributor is covered: full deduction with MAGI of $129,000 or less, partial between $129,000 and $149,000, none above $149,000.
Married filing jointly, contributor is not covered but spouse is: full deduction with MAGI of $242,000 or less, partial between $242,000 and $252,000, none above $252,000.

Inside a phase-out range, use the worksheet in Publication 590-A to figure the reduced deduction. That reduced number is what goes on Schedule 1, Line 20; the rest of your contribution, if you make the full amount, goes on Form 8606 as basis.

For Roth IRAs, the 2026 direct-contribution phase-outs run from $153,000 to $168,000 of MAGI for single filers and from $242,000 to $252,000 for married filing jointly. Married filing separately phases out between $0 and $10,000.⁵ Above those limits you can’t contribute directly, though nothing about that changes where a Roth contribution would have gone on your return: still nowhere.

Quick Reference

Deductible Traditional IRA: Schedule 1 (Form 1040), Part II, Line 20. Reduces AGI on Form 1040.
Non-deductible Traditional IRA: Form 8606, Part I. Does not appear on Schedule 1 and does not reduce AGI.
Roth IRA: nowhere on your return. Your custodian reports it on Form 5498.
Backdoor Roth conversion: Form 8606, Parts I and II. Converted amount also appears on Form 1040, Line 4a.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Schedule 1 (Form 1040) – Additional Income and Adjustments to Income
2
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8606
3
Internal Revenue Service. Form 8606 – Nondeductible IRAs
4
Internal Revenue Service. Reporting IRA and Retirement Plan Transactions
5
Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500