For 2009, if you were covered by a retirement plan at work, your deduction for contributions to a traditional IRA is reduced (phased out) if your modified AGI is:

• More than $89,000 but less than $109,000 for a married couple filing a joint return or a qualifying widow(er),
• More than $55,000 but less than $65,000 for a single individual or head of household, or
• Less than $10,000 for a married individual filing a separate return.

If you either lived with your spouse or file a joint return, and your spouse was covered by a retirement plan at work, but you were not, your deduction is phased out if your modified AGI is more than $166,000 but less than $176,000. If your modified AGI is $176,000 or more, you cannot take a deduction for contributions to a traditional IRA. See How Much Can You Deduct? in this chapter.

No minimum distribution is required from your traditional IRA for 2009. See Waiver of required minimum distribution rules in this chapter.

For IRA purposes, your compensation includes any military differential pay you receive from your employer while you are serving on active duty for a period of more than 30 days. For more information, see Military differential pay, later.

For 2010, if you are covered by a retirement plan at work, your deduction for contributions to a traditional IRA is reduced (phased out) if your modified AGI is:

• More than $89,000 but less than $109,000 for a married couple filing a joint return or a qualifying widow(er),
• More than $56,000 but less than $66,000 for a single individual or head of household, or
• Less than $10,000 for a married individual filing a separate return.

For 2010, if you either live with your spouse or file a joint return, and your spouse is covered by a retirement plan at work, but you are not, your deduction is phased out if your modified AGI is more than $167,000 but less than $177,000. If your modified AGI is $177,000 or more, you cannot take a deduction for contributions to a traditional IRA. See How Much Can You Deduct? in this chapter.

Beginning in 2010, the modified AGI and filing status requirements for converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA are eliminated.

Also, for any 2010 rollover from an IRA other than a Roth IRA to a Roth IRA, any amounts that would be included as income will be included in income in equal amounts in 2011 and 2012. You can choose to include the entire amount in income in 2010.

The provision for additional catch-up contributions in certain employer bankruptcies does not apply for 2010 or later years.

The provision for tax-free distributions from IRAs for charitable purposes is scheduled to expire and will not be available for 2010.

This chapter discusses the original IRA. In this publication the original IRA (sometimes called an ordinary or regular IRA) is referred to as a "traditional IRA." The following are two advantages of a traditional IRA:

• You may be able to deduct some or all of your contributions to it, depending on your circumstances.
• Generally, amounts in your IRA, including earnings and gains, are not taxed until they are distributed.

A traditional IRA is any IRA that is not a Roth IRA or a SIMPLE IRA.