401(k) Contribution Limit 2026
Current year
For 2026, the 401(k) Contribution Limit figures are $24,500 (Elective deferral), +$8,000 (Age 50 catch-up) and +$11,250 (Age 60 through 63 catch-up).
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Notice 2025-67 (IRS)Verified 2026-09-03
Compared with 2025
| Item | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elective deferral | $23,500 | $24,500 | +$1,000 (+4.3%) |
| Age 50 catch-up | +$7,500 | +$8,000 | +$500 (+6.7%) |
| Age 60 through 63 catch-up | +$11,250 | +$11,250 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Individuals who participate in a 401(k) plan or other applicable employer plan subject to the federal elective deferral limits under Internal Revenue Code section 402(g).
What changed this year, and why
For 2026, the IRS has increased the 401(k) elective deferral limit and the age 50 catch-up contribution limit. The higher catch-up limit for workers in their early 60s remains unchanged.
Common questions
- What is the 401(k) elective deferral limit for 2026?
- For 2026, the limit on elective deferrals is $24,500. This is an increase from the 2025 limit of $23,500.
- How much can workers age 50 or older contribute as a catch-up in 2026?
- Workers who are age 50 or older may make an additional catch-up contribution of $8,000 in 2026. This is an increase from the 2025 catch-up limit of $7,500.
- Is there a higher catch-up contribution for workers in their early 60s?
- Yes. Workers in the years they reach the upper catch-up age range may contribute an additional $11,250 in 2026. This is the same amount as in 2025.
Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The 401(k) contribution planner takes the number you enter and works it out against them, showing which published figure it used.
What the limit counts, and the tax it does not save
An elective deferral is money you choose to have your employer pay directly into a qualified retirement plan instead of receiving as regular wages. It applies to arrangements such as cash or deferred arrangements, the federal Thrift Savings Plan, tax-sheltered annuities, salary reduction simplified employee pensions, SIMPLE plans, and governmental deferred compensation plans. The key tax feature is that a traditional elective deferral is not counted as wages subject to federal income tax at the moment it goes into the plan, so it lowers the income tax you owe for that year. However, the amount is still subject to social security and Medicare taxes, so your payroll tax base is not reduced by what you defer. A separate category called a designated Roth contribution works differently: it is included in your taxable income up front. Both kinds count toward the same annual limit on how much you can defer across all of your plans in a given year. For 2026, that base elective deferral limit is $24,500. You are responsible for tracking the total you put in across every plan you participate in, even though your employer applies the limit on each plan individually.
An elective deferral, other than a designated Roth contribution (discussed later), isn’t included in wages subject to income tax at the time contributed. However, it’s inclu- ded in wages subject to social security and Medicare taxes.
Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income (IRS)
One limit across every plan you defer into
The IRS does not give you a separate deferral cap for each plan you happen to be covered by. Instead, it sets one overall annual limit that applies to the total of all your elective deferrals across every qualifying plan taken together. That means if you work two jobs in the same year and both employers let you defer into a qualified retirement plan, the dollar cap is shared between the two accounts. It is your responsibility, not your employer's, to watch the combined total. Employers and plan administrators apply the correct annual limit when they process contributions, but they generally cannot see what you are deferring into a different employer's plan. If the combined deferrals exceed the overall limit, you have excess deferrals that must be corrected, typically by requesting a distribution of the excess from one of the plans by April 15 of the following year. The limit does not depend on how many plans you participate in or how much you earn. For 2026, the overall limit on elective deferrals is $24,500.
Your employer or plan administrator should apply the proper annual limit when figuring your plan contributions. However, you’re responsible for monitoring the total you defer to ensure that the deferrals aren’t more than the overall limit.
Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income (IRS)
The catch-up once you are old enough for it
Once you reach age 50, the tax code allows you to defer more than the regular elective deferral limit. These extra amounts are called catch-up contributions, and they are available only if you are age 50 or older by the end of the tax year. The catch-up is an addition on top of the regular limit, not a replacement for it. Catch-up contributions apply to employer-sponsored retirement plans including cash or deferred arrangements, tax-sheltered annuities, the federal Thrift Savings Plan, salary reduction simplified employee pensions, and governmental deferred compensation plans. For 2026, the catch-up amount available to participants age 50 or older is $8,000, which is added to the regular $24,500 elective deferral limit. An eligible participant can therefore defer the full regular limit plus the catch-up amount on top of it in the same year. The catch-up is intended to help workers who are closer to retirement build up savings more quickly. If you participate in more than one plan, catch-up contributions can generally only be made to one plan unless the plans coordinate otherwise.
You may be allowed catch-up contributions (additional elective de- ferrals) if you’re age 50 or older by the end of your tax year.
Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income (IRS)
The larger catch-up in the year you turn 60 through 63
A participant who attains age 60, 61, 62 or 63 during the year is allowed a larger catch-up than other catch-up-eligible participants get. For 2026 that larger amount is $11,250 rather than $8,000, and it sits on top of the $24,500 elective deferral limit exactly as the smaller one does. The band is defined by the age reached during the year rather than one held throughout it, so someone who attains 60 in December is inside it for that whole year. Someone past the band is back to the ordinary amount: the larger figure is stated for those ages and no others. A plan is not required to offer it at all, and where the plan does not, the ordinary catch-up applies whatever the participant's age - which is why what payroll will actually take is the plan's answer and not only the notice's.
The catch-up limit is $11,250 if you are age 60, 61, 62, or 63 in 2025.
Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income (IRS)
What happens if you defer more than the limit
When your total elective deferrals for the year exceed the annual limit, the excess is called an excess deferral. You must notify your plan by the date the plan requires. If the plan allows it, the excess amount will be distributed back to you. If you participate in more than one plan, you can have the excess paid out from any plan that permits these distributions, but you must notify each plan by its required date about the amount to be paid from that particular plan. The plan must then distribute the excess, together with any income earned on that amount, by April 15 of the following year. The excess deferral must be included in your income for the year it was contributed, so you add the amount to earned income on your tax return. If you fail to take out the excess by the deadline, you face a double tax: the excess is taxed once when contributed and again when eventually distributed, unless the excess was a designated Roth contribution, in which case it was already included in income.
If your deferrals exceed the limit, you must notify your plan by the date re- quired by the plan. If the plan permits, the ex- cess amount will be distributed to you.
Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income (IRS)
Roth deferrals count against the same limit
Employers that sponsor certain qualified retirement plans may offer a designated Roth option within the plan. Under such a program, you can elect to have some or all of your elective deferrals treated as after-tax Roth contributions rather than pre-tax contributions. The important point is that designated Roth contributions are still elective deferrals, and they still count against the same annual limit that applies to traditional pre-tax deferrals. For 2026, that limit is $24,500 in total across both traditional and Roth deferrals combined. The difference is purely in the timing of taxation: a designated Roth contribution is included in your wages and taxed in the year it is made, whereas a traditional elective deferral is excluded from income tax when contributed but taxed when distributed later. The plan must maintain separate accounts and record-keeping for the designated Roth contributions. Qualified distributions from a Roth account are then tax-free, provided the distribution meets the required holding period.
Designated Roth contributions are treated as elective deferrals, except that they’re included in income.
Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income (IRS)
There is no form to file - your employer reports it on your W-2
There is no separate IRS form you file to report your 401(k) contributions. Instead, your employer reports the deferrals on your Form W-2. Your employer generally does not include the elective deferrals in your wages in box 1. Instead, your employer marks the "Retirement plan" checkbox in box 13 and shows the total amount deferred in box 12 of the form. This means the 401(k) contributions you make during the year are recorded by your employer, not by you, and you do not need to file a separate form to report the deferrals.
Reporting by employer. Your employer gen- erally shouldn’t include elective deferrals in your wages in box 1 of Form W-2. Instead, your em- ployer should mark the “Retirement plan” checkbox in box 13 and show the total amount deferred in box 12.
Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income (IRS)
Leave the excess in the plan and it is taxed twice
If you leave an excess 401(k) deferral in the plan instead of having it distributed, you are taxed twice on that money. You are taxed once in the year you contributed the excess, when you must include it in your income. Then you are taxed a second time when you eventually receive the money as a distribution from the plan, unless the excess deferral was a designated Roth contribution. You cannot reduce the tax on the distribution by including the excess in the cost of the contract, because even though you already paid tax on the contribution, it does not count toward your basis. Withdrawing the excess by the April 15 deadline avoids this double taxation.
Excess not distributed. If you don’t take out the excess amount, you can’t include it in the cost of the contract even though you inclu- ded it in your income. Therefore, you’re taxed twice on the excess deferral left in the plan—once when you contribute it, and again when you receive it as a distribution (unless the excess deferral was a designated Roth contri- bution).
Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income (IRS)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
Notice 2025-67 (IRS)
- Elective deferral
The limitation under section 402(g)(1) on the exclusion for elective deferrals described in section 402(g)(3), which includes elective deferrals made to the Thrift Savings Plan, is increased from $23,500 to $24,500.
- Age 50 catch-up
The limitation under section 414(v)(2)(B)(i) for catch-up contributions to an applicable employer plan other than a plan described in section 401(k)(11) or section 408(p) that generally applies for individuals aged 50 or over is increased from $7,500 to $8,000.
- Age 60 through 63 catch-up
The limitation under section 414(v)(2)(E)(i) for catch-up contributions to an applicable employer plan other than a plan described in section 401(k)(11) or section 408(p) that applies for individuals who attain age 60, 61, 62, or 63 in 2026 remains $11,250.
By year
Not published here
- 2027 — Not announced. The IRS has not announced the 2027 401(k) contribution limits. The annual retirement plan limits notice usually appears in early November.
Every published year
11 years on record, 2026 back to 2016. Each year links to its own page, its own document and its own verification date.
Oldest year at the left. Every line spans the same run of years, with a tick under each year it has a figure for, so a line that starts late is a column the law added late. The vertical axis is scaled to the values plotted rather than to zero, so a line shows the shape of the change and not the size of the amount. The table states every value.
- SECURE 2.0 Act § 109 added § 414(v)(2)(E), a larger catch-up limit for participants who turn 60 through 63 during the year, effective for taxable years beginning after 2024. No earlier year's law had this age band at all
Download every year as a csv. One row per published figure, each carrying the document it was read from and the date it was checked.