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I opened my Roth IRA account following the Wealthfront recommendation on July 5, 2017 and contributed $5500. I am new to Roth IRA at that time. However, today (Jan 3, 2018) I just know there is a deadline for Roth IRA which is around April 15 each year.

What should I do now? Thanks.

And can I contribute another $5500 to this year 2018? Or will the $5500 I deposited on July 5, 2017 will count 2018 (since it is after deadline)?

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  • I've only used two brokerage websites, but both make it literally impossible to contribute for the incorrect tax year. I haven't tried but they probably don't allow overcontribution for any year, either. To do that I'd have to have IRAs at multiple brokerages, or incorrectly mark a contribution as a rollover. Commented Jan 4, 2018 at 17:33

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You are misunderstanding the deadlines. The deadline for 2017 contributions is April 15, 2018. And the deadline for 2018 contributions is April 15, 2019.

The contribution you made on July 5, 2017 is for tax year 2017. Now that it is 2018, you can make 2018 contributions, and you have until April 15 of next year to do so.

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    Thank you so much, Ben! You saved my day! I worried so much about this today. Commented Jan 4, 2018 at 1:35
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    To be precise, up until April 17, 2018 when you make IRA contributions you can choose to count them in either 2017 or 2018. After that, they must be counted as 2018 contributions (until we get to 2019). Commented Jan 4, 2018 at 5:15
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    Yes, the deadline each year is the same as the tax return deadline, and occasionally it gets pushed out by a day or two due to a weekend or a holiday. Commented Jan 4, 2018 at 15:42
  • @BenMiller, I was trying to emphasize that from January 1 - Tax Day you have a choice of which year to count your contributions as. From Tax Day - December 31 contributions always apply to the current calendar year. Commented Jan 4, 2018 at 19:48
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    @cjm Although in OP's case, any additional contribution he makes prior to April 17, 2018 must be counted for 2018, since he has already maxed out his 2017 contribution. Commented Jan 4, 2018 at 22:56

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