Information for IRS Tax Form 5498

Tax Form 5498 is used to report contributions on IRAs, which include traditional and Roth, as well as Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) and Simplified Employee Pension (SEP).

Many people are under the impression that they need Tax Form 5498 in order to file their final return. This tax form is for informational purposes only, and is not to be sent to the IRS along with your tax return. IRS regulations state that these tax forms must be sent to contributors by no later than May 31st of the next year. For this reason, most people have already filed their final return.

Even though you do not need to send Tax Form 5498 to the IRS along with your return, it is important that you keep this information for your records. Along with this, you should make sure that your contribution matches the amount in Box 1. If you believe there is an error, get in touch with your plan administrator as soon as possible. An inaccurate recording could lead to many issues, including lost money and taking the wrong tax deduction.

IRS Tax Form 5498 (IRA Contribution Information)

There is a chance that the contributions on Tax Form 5498 will be different than those found on your quarterly or annual statement. The reason for this is simple ? this tax form includes all contributions for the previous tax year, as well as those made through April 15 of the current year. It is important that you are comparing the right numbers when determining if your records match what is included on Tax Form 5498.

In addition to Box 1 which states your IRA contributions, there are other values that you may need to become familiar with. For instance, Box 2 includes roll-over contributions and Box 3 is for any ‘Roth IRA conversion amount.’

On the left side of Tax Form 5498, you will find the trustees or issuers name and address. Directly below is the trustee’s or issuer’s federal identification number. All of this information is immediately followed by the participant’s social security number, name, and address.

Just because Tax Form 5498 is only for informational purposes does not mean you should ignore it. Instead, when you receive one of these tax forms, make sure you double check the information and then file it away for future use.

---