Can I contribute to my roth if I operated at a loss

[Guest phatgitl151]

I am self employed and operated at loss this year so i had no taxable income can I still make my yearly contribution to my Roth IRA?

[Appleby]

No. You must have taxable compensation to make a contribution to an IRA, , ( including Roth IRA)

[Guest phatgitl151]

and the hits just keep on coming thanks any way

[John G]

This year? If you really mean this year, then you have time to arrange for your qualification. If you find anyway to get a payroll check from anyone, you will jump into qualifying.

For example, you provide consulting services to another company, take a temp job on the weekends or during the holidays. UPS pays over $10 per hours during December for temp help. I helped some high school kids to pull over $1,000 and start a Roth last year based upon about 10 days of long hours. They were astonished and now have their first lesson in investing.

If you are incorporated, you can pay yourself a small salary such as $2,000 even though you were losing money overall and qualify for an Roth. Talk to your tax advisor, there may be other options for you.

Although you may be annoyed about your current circumstances, once you are making money again you get much more favorable treatment than the average Joe pulling a paycheck. There are many mechanisms for structuring a business to allow you to make much larger contributions to your retirement shelter.

You were sketchy on the details of your business, post some background info and you may get some additional help at this site. Good luck.