I just opened a Roth IRA. My AGI is below 31,000. Can I deduct this from my 1999 tax return?

Hello, nice to talk to you. As I understand it you cannot deduct any Roth IRA contributions because they are made with after tax dollars, unlike the regular ira's which can be deducted. You do have to list on your return that you contributed for that year with a special form or on the 1040 tax form in the designated area

ZM: Roths are funded with after tax dollars. There is NO DEDUCTION on your income tax, however, the assets compound and are eventually dispersed without any tax liability.

Some regular IRAs have deductable features depending upon you qualifications. You may have been thinking of the "original" version of IRAs which under some circumstances are deductable but distributions are subsequently taxed.

Roths were created in 1998 and operated under slightly different rules. You may want to look at the articles at www.rothira.com for more details.