Yes. In order for the contribution to apply for the prior year, the refund must be deposited to your IRA by the due date for filing your tax return (not counting extensions) for the prior year. You can have your refund (or part of it) directly deposited to a traditional IRA or Roth IRA, but not a SIMPLE IRA. IRS direct deposits of federal tax refunds won't indicate for which year the IRA contribution is intended. If you want all your refund deposited into your IRA, you don't use Form 8888, Allocation of Refund; you do it on your tax return.

• Ensure that your financial institution accepts deposits for the prior year to IRAs.
• As with all IRA deposits, the account owner is responsible for verifying the deposit amount and that the deposit was timely made and ensuring that contributions don't exceed annual contribution limitations.

If you fail to notify the IRA trustee of the intended year for the deposit, the IRA trustee may assume the deposit is for the current year (for example, a refund received in 2026 is deposited as a contribution for 2026 rather than for 2025).

The IRS isn't responsible for the contribution amounts or timeliness related to an IRA direct deposit.

• An error on your return or an offset of your refund could change the amount of refund available for deposit which could reduce any IRA deduction and any retirement savings contributions credit you claimed for 2025 for that deposit, potentially further reducing the amount of refund available for deposit (for more information, see Are there conditions that could change the amount of my refund?).
• If the deposit into your account doesn't occur by the due date of the return (without regard to extensions), the deposit is a contribution for 2026 rather than 2025, and you must file an amended 2025 return to reduce any IRA deduction and any retirement savings contributions credit you claimed for 2025 for that deposit.

Additional information:
IRA FAQs

Category IRS procedures

Sub-Category Refund inquiries