IRA contributions can be deducted from your income (with certain limitations) on line 32 of the 1040. There also is a Retirement savings contribution credit on line 51 where the government will pay 50 cents or 20 cents or 10 cents on the dollar up to $1,000 for certain income levels (for poorer people they pay 50 cents on the dollar. It is those two deductions that I use to reduce my income taxes down to zero.

But I was against the higher limits. The reason being is that they are a tax shelter for the more wealthy. Who can afford to put $5,000 in an IRA - somebody making $20,000 a year, or somebody making $60,000 a year?

You don't have to answer that. IRS figures from 2004 show that only 10.15% of eligible taxpayers contributed to an IRA account in 2004. For taxpayers with income more than $20,000 and less than $25,000 that number was 6.5% and the average amount contributed was $1,854. For tax filers with income between $500,000 and $1,000,000 28.42% contributed to an IRA account and the average contribution was $9,241.

I would be against another tax break for wealthier people.