Tax deducted mutual fund?

Question

Are there any fund(mutual or whatever) which can be beneficiated by tax deduction when you file your tax-return? like 401K?
I know that 401K is a kind of Tax-deferred one that you need to pay your income tax when you receive it after 65 years-old. But for this, the goverment gives you a benefit when you file your tax-return.
I mean this kind of benefit that you can have in your tax-return.
I am korean and not good at speaking English, hope that any answerer can understand my point.

Answer 1

The mere purchasing of a mutual fund or any other fund will not lower your taxable income and thereby lower your tax liability. However, contributions to tax-deferred plans like IRAs and 401(k) lower your tax liability in the year they are funded.

Translation: putting money in your 401(k) and Traditional IRA saves you in taxes. Simply buying a mutual fund does not.

Keep in mind, when you pull money out of your tax-deferred account, you will have to include that amount as taxable income in the year withdrawn. All 401(k)s are handled by your employer and are already missing from your W-2 Box 1 taxable income. You do not need to add it anywhere to your tax return. Traditional IRAs are added to your tax return as a subtraction (adjustment). Warning: not everyone can make deductable contributions to a Traditional IRA (beyond the scope of this answer).

The tax-deferred accounts (401k, IRA) can invest in various things like mutual funds. But, what saves you in taxes is not what the account invests in, but instead it is your contribution to the account. Get it?

Some mutual funds are labeled "tax-free" mutual funds. Why? Because they invest in things that generate "income" that is not taxed by the US Government. The purchasing of these "tax-free" mutual funds does NOT lower your tax liability....but the income they generate is not added to your federal tax return as taxable income. Do you see the difference? The money you put into the mutual fund doesn't save you in taxes, but the growth of the fund is tax-free. Warning #2: it isn't a wise policy to use your tax-deferred accounts (401k, IRA) to invest in tax-free mutual funds. Why? Because you pay tax on all earnings from the tax-deferred accounts REGARDLESS where the earnings came from. It is best to use money outside of your tax-deferred accounts to purchase tax-free mutual funds.

Answer 2

First, don't confuse 401k and IRA with individual mutual funds and other investment options.

If your employer offers 401k, the money will get deducted from your pay check before tax and put into a 401k account of your name. Because the money is taken out for 401k before tax, therefore reduces your taxable income.

The money in 401k has a limited number of investment options, offered by the company who is administering the 401k for your employer. The investment options might include money market account (basically a bank account with a bit higher interest) and a number of mutual funds.

The money invest and hopefully grow inside your 401k until your retirement or whenever you decide to roll over to an IRA account.

Generally you need to roll over to a Traditional IRA account when you leave your current employer, whether change jobs or retirement. You can open IRA account with many financial institutions (investment companies, banks etc). Each financial institution offers a number of investment options.

Upon your retirement, the money taken out of your Traditional IRA is taxable at the rate of your tax rate at the time of withdraw.

If you want to read more about it, check out IRS publications http://www.irs.gov/publications/p590/index.html.

Note that Roth IRA is a different kind of individual retirement account. The money put into Roth IRA is after tax, and the withdraw in the future will not be tax.

Best wishes.

Answer 3

No, you would possibly want to deduct the 2012 State income Taxes on your 2012 Federal 1040. And, any refund from the state turns into taxable income in 2013 on your 1040 when you consider that to procure a deduction on your 2012 one hundred and forty go back.

Answer 4

If you put your money into an traditional IRA that invests in mutual funds (or whatever), and you are able to deduct the IRA on your taxes (there are rules) then yes.

Answer 5

You're talking about a traditonal IRA.