 TITLE: What Does Adjusted Gross Income Mean? CONTENT: How Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) Compares to Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI)\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nIn a few cases—for example, if you want to contribute to a traditional or Roth IRA or apply for certain federal tax benefits such as adoption tax credits—you may need to provide a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) instead of an AGI. What's the difference? Typically, MAGI is AGI with certain deductions added back. These deductions may include:\n*   Student loan interest\n*   Tuition and fees\n*   Foreign earned income exclusion\n*   Foreign housing exclusion or deduction\n*   Excludable savings bond interest\n*   Excluded employer-provided adoption benefits\nMAGI may be calculated differently for different applications. For example, IRS publication 590-A, Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements, has worksheets to compute MAGI for traditional IRA eligibility and for Roth IRA eligibility, with a slight difference between the two. If you're being asked to provide MAGI, look for specifics on how it should be calculated. In many cases, there is no difference—or very little—between AGI and MAGI; the deductions involved are relatively rare. END