Office of Labor Relations311Search all NYC.gov websites
The New York City Employee IRA
Funding your NYCE IRA
Contributions
Traditional NYCE IRA Contribution Limits for 2023
The contribution limit to your Traditional NYCE IRA for 2023 will be the lesser of the following amounts:
- $6,500; or
- Your taxable compensation for the year.
If you will be age 50 or over in 2023, the most that you can contribute to your Traditional NYCE IRA will be the lesser of the following amounts:
- $7,500; or
- Your taxable compensation for the year.
If you have more than one traditional IRA, the limit applies to the total contributions made on your behalf to all of your IRAs for the year.
Traditional NYCE IRA Contribution Limits for 2024
The contribution limit to your Traditional NYCE IRA for 2024 will be the lesser of the following amounts:
- $7,000; or
- Your taxable compensation for the year.
If you will be age 50 or over in 2024, the most that you can contribute to your Traditional NYCE IRA will be the lesser of the following amounts:
- $8,000; or
- Your taxable compensation for the year.
If you have more than one traditional IRA, the limit applies to the total contributions made on your behalf to all of your IRAs for the year.
Taxable Compensation
Generally, taxable compensation is wages, salaries, tips, professional fees, bonuses, and other amounts you receive for providing personal services. You must have compensation to be eligible to make contributions to the Traditional NYCE IRA. Compensation does not include any of the following items:
- Earnings and profits from property, such as rental income, interest income, and dividend income
- Pension or annuity income (including distributions from 457 plans, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans and IRAs)
Contributing to Your Traditional NYCE IRA
Making a contribution to your Traditional NYCE IRA is easy. After establishing a NYCE IRA, simply send a check or money order, for the amount desired, along with the NYCE IRA Deposit Form to the address stated on the form. You can contribute as often as you like, but remember that you are responsible for making sure you do not contribute in excess of the IRA contribution limits.
In addition, you can roll over assets from another retirement plan to your NYCE IRA account. See "Funding your IRA using a rollover" for more information.
A Traditional Spousal NYCE IRA can be funded through contributions or rollovers.
- Contributions - Both the employee and the spouse can contribute to the Spousal NYCE IRA as long as the couple files a joint return, and has enough taxable compensation to cover the contribution.
- Rollovers - A spouse can roll over assets into their Spousal NYCE from previous employers retirement plans such as 401(k), 403(b) or 457 plans or IRAs. Only retirement plans or IRAs in the spouse's own name are eligible for rollover into the Spousal NYCE IRA.
Contributions can be made to your NYCE IRA at any time during the year or by the deadline for filing your federal income tax return for that year, without including extensions.
Generally, you can deduct the contributions to your traditional IRA on your federal income tax return.
Whether your contributions into the Traditional NYCE IRA will be deductible or non-deductible depends on your (or, if married, your and your spouse's) Modified Adjusted Gross Income (Modified AGI) and whether or not you are covered by another retirement plan at work. The deductibility of your Traditional NYCE IRA does not affect the IRA maximum contribution limit. Even when your contributions are not tax deductible, any earnings still grow tax-deferred.
Modified AGI is calculated from information on your tax return. The Form-W2 you receive from your employer has a box used to indicate whether you were covered by a retirement plan for this year.
Learn more about funding your Traditional NYCE IRA using a rollover