what is the difference between magi and agi 
your modified adjusted gross income magi is your adjusted gross income agi plus additional items such as student loan interest qualified education expenses passive income or losses ira contributions and foreign income among others can magi and agi be the same yes magi and agi can be the same for many people the list of deductions that need to be added back to agi to calculate magi will not be relevant for instance those who did not earn any foreign income would have no reason to use that deduction and would have none of those earnings to add back to their agi the bottom linemodified adjusted gross income magi is important for your tax returns to determine what you owe the irs it takes your gross income and adjusts and modifies it for certain exemptions qualifications and allowances your magi will differ from your adjusted gross income agi if you have foreign income qualified education expenses or passive losses among other items correction april 10 2024 a previous version of this article incorrectly stated that in order to calculate magi with ira deductions you have to subtract the deductions related to traditional ira contributions it has been updated to state that these deductions should be added back 