<prompt> Human: My girlfriend got a raise halfway through the year and it put the income she earned a couple hundred over into a new tax bracket, so now she owes a couple hundred. Could she fund an IRA before submitting her taxes and add that contribution to her return to bring her back down to her old tax bracket?  <response>: Im going to assume that you two dont quite understand how tax brackets work.Tax brackets are progressive, not absolute. Your entire income is not taxed at that rate, only the income earned above the lower tax rate. So if you are into the 25 tax bracket by 200, only the 200 is taxed at 25. Amounts earned below that tax bracket are subject to different tax rates. You will never be penalized by earning more money. Moving into a new tax bracket should NEVER mean that you take home less money.Now to your question about if she should fund an IRA before submitting her taxes and add that to her return to bring down her taxes. Yes. She should fund her IRA because it is a smart thing to do. Not necessarily because of impact on taxes. If she can afford to fund her retirement accounts, she should do so. If she has high interest debt, that money is better used on the debt. 