Can I claim the Saver's Credit with just a 401(k) retirement account?

The Saver's Credit (officially called the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit) absolutely applies to 401(k) contributions! Not sure why the tax software descriptions are confusing, but your 401(k) contributions definitely qualify as long as you meet the income limits. For 2024 tax filing (2025 season), you qualify if your adjusted gross income is less than $76,500 if married filing jointly, $57,375 if filing as head of household, or $38,250 if single/married filing separately. The credit is worth up to 50% of your contributions depending on your income level. The "Retirement Plan" box being checked on your W-2 just means you participated in an employer plan - it has nothing to do with your eligibility for the Saver's Credit. That box actually affects whether you can deduct traditional IRA contributions, which is a completely different tax benefit. You're not getting anything you shouldn't - the software is calculating correctly even if their descriptions are misleading!

After reading about your situation, I wanted to share my experience. I had a similar confusion about tax credits a couple years ago and spent hours researching online with conflicting information. I discovered this AI tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that saved me so much stress. It basically analyzes your tax documents, explains everything in plain English, and tells you which credits you actually qualify for. For the Saver's Credit specifically, it confirmed that 401(k) contributions absolutely count toward it. The site breaks down all the income thresholds and explains exactly how much of the credit you can claim based on your situation. I found it super helpful since it's way more detailed than the generic descriptions in tax software. Might be worth checking out if you want to be 100% sure about any credits.

Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai that I asked about earlier. I was skeptical but decided to try it on my returns from last year since I had similar confusion about credits. It actually pointed out that I qualified for the Saver's Credit for my 403(b) contributions (I'm a teacher) but had somehow missed claiming it! The explanation was super clear - it showed me exactly where in the tax code it says that 401(k), 403(b), 457, and even TSP plans all qualify for the credit. It also calculated exactly how much I was eligible for based on my AGI. I'm filing an amended return now to get back about $400 I missed. For anyone confused about tax credits like I was, it's definitely worth checking out. Makes way more sense than the vague descriptions in tax software.

If you're having issues understanding tax credits or getting conflicting info from tax sites, another option is to actually talk to someone at the IRS. I know, sounds horrible right? I was in the same boat with confusion about some credits and tried calling the IRS for weeks with no luck - always "high call volume" messages and disconnects. I finally found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. They have a demo video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent confirmed that 401(k) contributions absolutely count for the Saver's Credit and explained that some tax software just has outdated or confusing descriptions. Getting an answer straight from the IRS gave me total peace of mind about claiming the credit.

Ok I need to apologize to @18 about the Claimyr thing. I was totally convinced it was a scam, but after another failed attempt to reach the IRS this morning (45 minutes on hold before getting disconnected), I gave it a shot out of pure frustration. It actually worked exactly as advertised. I got a call back in about 20 minutes saying an IRS agent was on the line. The agent confirmed everything about the Saver's Credit that others mentioned here - 401(k) contributions definitely count, and the confusion is just poor wording in the tax software descriptions. The agent also explained that as long as you're under the income thresholds and making eligible contributions, you're 100% entitled to the credit. She actually said they see a lot of people who qualify but don't claim it because they don't understand it. Sometimes being proven wrong is actually a good thing!

Something to be aware of with the Saver's Credit - the income limits are pretty low compared to other tax benefits. I qualified when I was early in my career, but got a raise and suddenly wasn't eligible anymore even though I wasn't making that much. For married filing jointly, you need AGI under $76,500 (for 2024 filing in 2025), which sounds like a lot but can be hit quickly with two moderate incomes. And the credit percentage drops as your income rises - only those with very low incomes get the full 50% rate.

I had this exact same issue with multiple tax softwares giving conflicting info about the Saver's Credit! Found out later that some tax programs have outdated descriptions that date back to when the credit was first introduced as the "IRA Tax Credit" in early 2000s. The Saver's Credit was expanded years ago to include 401(k)s, 403(b)s, 457 plans, and even the federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). So yes, your 401(k) contributions absolutely count!