2016 Roth IRA Income Limit
For 2016, the Roth IRA Income Limit figures are $184,000 (Phase-out start, joint filers), $194,000 (Phase-out end, joint filers), $117,000 (Phase-out start, single filers) and 4 more figures below.
| Item | Joint filers | Single filers | Separate filers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase-out start | $184,000 | $117,000 | $0 |
| Phase-out end | $194,000 | $132,000 | $10,000 |
Effective 2016-01-01Source: Notice 2015-75 (IRS)Verified 2026-09-03
Phase-out start
Phase-out end
$10,000$194,000
One dot per column of the table, on a scale running from the smallest of these amounts to the largest. The scale is logarithmic - each faint line is ten times the one before it, so that the amounts crowded at the low end stay far enough apart to read. The table states which dot is which.
Who it applies to
Taxpayers who contribute to a Roth IRA
What changed this year, and why
The IRS announced the 2016 cost-of-living adjustments to the Roth IRA income phase-out ranges under IRC § 408A(c)(3). Both the joint-filer and single-filer ranges increased slightly compared with prior years.
Common questions
- What are the Roth IRA income limits for 2016?
- For 2016, the income phase-out range for married couples filing jointly is $184,000 to $194,000. For single filers and heads of household, the range is $117,000 to $132,000. If your modified adjusted gross income falls below the start of the range, you may contribute the full amount. If it falls within the range, your contribution limit is reduced. If it exceeds the end of the range, you cannot contribute to a Roth IRA.
Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The Roth IRA limit left for a single filer takes the number you enter and works it out against them, showing which published figure it used.
How a high modified AGI reduces the limit
For 2016, a Roth IRA contribution limit is reduced when your modified adjusted gross income (modified AGI) falls within a specific phase-out range. The reduction applies gradually as income rises from the phase-out start to the phase-out end. For taxpayers filing as married filing jointly, the phase-out range runs from $184,000 to $194,000 of modified AGI. For single filers (and certain other filing statuses), the phase-out range runs from $117,000 to $132,000. If your modified AGI is below the start of the range, your full contribution limit is available. If your modified AGI is at or above the end of the range, your Roth IRA contribution limit is zero. If your modified AGI falls inside the range, the IRS worksheet calculates a proportionally reduced limit based on where your income sits within the range. The reduction is computed before considering your taxable compensation or any traditional IRA contributions.
Contribution limit reduced. If your modified AGI is above a certain amount, your contribution limit is gradually reduced.
Publication 590-A (2016), Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (IRS)
Figuring the reduced limit, and how it is rounded
Once the Roth IRA contribution limit has been mathematically reduced based on modified AGI, the resulting dollar figure is rounded up to the nearest $10. There is also a protective floor: if the computed reduced limit is more than $0 but less than $200, the limit is increased to $200. This means that a taxpayer whose income falls just inside the phase-out range may still be permitted to contribute at least $200 to a Roth IRA, even when the arithmetic reduction produces only a small remainder. Only when the reduced limit calculates to exactly $0 (typically because modified AGI meets or exceeds the phase-out end of $194,000 for joint filers or $132,000 for single filers) is the contribution limit reduced to zero.
Round your reduced contribution limit up to the nearest $10. If your reduced contribution limit is more than $0, but less than $200, increase the limit to $200.
Publication 590-A (2016), Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (IRS)
The income the test uses is modified AGI
The income figure used to test whether a Roth IRA contribution limit is reduced is called modified AGI. It begins with the adjusted gross income (AGI) shown on your federal income tax return and then adds back or adjusts certain items, as specified by the IRS. For Roth IRA purposes, modified AGI may be higher or lower than regular AGI depending on whether you have Roth conversions, foreign income exclusions, or certain deductions that must be reversed. An important special rule applies to conversion income: when figuring other AGI-based phase-outs and taxable income (such as the deduction for medical and dental expenses), conversion income is not subtracted from AGI. Conversion income is subtracted from AGI only for the purpose of determining modified AGI for Roth IRA purposes. The IRS provides a worksheet to help taxpayers compute this modified AGI figure correctly.
Modified AGI. Your modified AGI for Roth IRA purposes is your adjusted gross income (AGI) as shown on your re- turn with some adjustments.
Publication 590-A (2016), Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (IRS)
Traditional and Roth contributions share one annual limit
Traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs share a single aggregate annual contribution limit. The IRS rules state that when contributions are made to both Roth IRAs and traditional IRAs in the same year, the Roth IRA contribution limit is generally the same amount that would apply if all contributions went to Roth IRAs, minus all contributions for the year made to traditional IRAs and other non-Roth IRAs. In other words, the combined total of contributions across all of an individual's traditional and Roth IRAs cannot exceed the annual limit, subject to reductions based on modified AGI and taxable compensation. Employer contributions under a SEP or SIMPLE IRA plan do not reduce this limit. This shared limit means that every dollar contributed to a traditional IRA reduces, dollar for dollar, the amount that may be contributed to a Roth IRA in the same tax year.
Roth IRAs and traditional IRAs. If contributions are made to both Roth IRAs and traditional IRAs established for your benefit, your contribution limit for Roth IRAs gen- erally is the same as your limit would be if contributions were made only to Roth IRAs, but then reduced by all con- tributions for the year to all IRAs other than Roth IRAs.
Publication 590-A (2016), Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (IRS)
Contributions for a year can be made up until the filing deadline
For 2016, the IRS allowed taxpayers to make Roth IRA contributions at any point during the calendar year or, if they missed part of the year, by the filing deadline for their 2016 federal income tax return - without counting any extension of time to file. For most people, that deadline fell on April 18, 2017. The rule means that a contribution intended for 2016 could be made in January 2016, December 2016, or any date in between up to that April 2017 date, and it would still count toward the 2016 contribution limit. Extensions of the return's filing deadline do not extend this contribution window; the contribution must be in the account by the original due date of the return. Once the contribution is deposited by that date, it is treated as having been made for 2016 even though it may have been deposited in 2017.
You can make contributions to a Roth IRA for a year at any time during the year or by the due date of your return for that year (not including extensions). You can make contributions for 2016 by the due date (not including extensions) for filing your 2016 tax return. This means that most people can make contributions for 2016 by April 18, 2017.
Publication 590-A (2016), Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (IRS)
There is no line on your return for a Roth contribution
For federal income tax purposes in 2016, taxpayers who contribute to a Roth IRA do not report those contributions anywhere on their tax return. Unlike deductible contributions to a traditional IRA, which appear as an adjustment to income, Roth IRA contributions are made with after-tax dollars and generate no deduction, so the IRS return has no line for them. This does not mean the IRS is unaware of the contribution - the Roth IRA trustee or custodian reports the contribution to the IRS separately on Form 5498 - but the taxpayer's own Form 1040 does not reflect the amount. Because there is no deduction to claim and no income to report at the time of contribution, the taxpayer simply makes the contribution and keeps records of it. Those records matter later, when qualified distributions are taken from the Roth IRA, because the IRS may want evidence that the money came from basis rather than from earnings.
Contributions not reported. You do not report Roth IRA contributions on your return.
Publication 590-A (2016), Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (IRS)
An excess contribution can be soaked up by a later year's room
For 2016, if a taxpayer contributes more than the Roth IRA limit for the year, the excess does not simply vanish or disqualify the taxpayer permanently. The IRS allows the excess contribution made in one year to be applied toward a later year's contribution room, provided the taxpayer's contributions for that later year are below the maximum allowed for that year. In effect, the earlier over-contribution is treated as though it were made in the later year, filling up unused contribution space. This carry-forward mechanism gives taxpayers a way to put the excess to work rather than having to withdraw it, but only in a year where they have not already maxed out their Roth IRA contributions. Taxpayers who do not use this option and leave the excess in the account without withdrawing it may face a penalty each year until the excess is corrected.
Applying excess contributions. If contributions to your Roth IRA for a year were more than the limit, you can ap- ply the excess contribution in one year to a later year if the contributions for that later year are less than the maximum allowed for that year.
Publication 590-A (2016), Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (IRS)
Contributing more than the limit costs a 6% excise tax
For 2016, the IRS imposes a 6% excise tax on any excess contribution to a Roth IRA. An excess contribution is the amount contributed for the year that exceeds the taxpayer's contribution limit, plus any excess contributions carried forward from the prior year, reduced by certain distributions and the unused portion of the current-year limit. The tax applies each year the excess remains in the account. A taxpayer can avoid the 6% excise tax for a given year by withdrawing the excess - along with any earnings on it - on or before the due date of the return for that year, including extensions. If the excess is not withdrawn by that deadline, it stays in the account and remains subject to the 6% excise tax in every subsequent year until it is corrected.
A 6% excise tax applies to any excess contribution to a Roth IRA.
Publication 590-A (2016), Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (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 2015-75 (IRS)
- Phase-out start, joint filers
Accordingly, under § 408A(c)(3)(A), the adjusted gross income phase-out range for taxpayers making contributions to a Roth IRA is $184,000 to $194,000 for married couples filing jointly
- Phase-out end, joint filers
Accordingly, under § 408A(c)(3)(A), the adjusted gross income phase-out range for taxpayers making contributions to a Roth IRA is $184,000 to $194,000 for married couples filing jointly
- Phase-out start, single filers
For singles and heads of household, the income phase-out range is $117,000 to $132,000
- Phase-out end, single filers
For singles and heads of household, the income phase-out range is $117,000 to $132,000
- Annual IRA contribution limit
The deductible amount under § 219(b)(5)(A) for an individual making qualified retirement contributions remains unchanged at $5,500.
- Phase-out start, separate filers
For a married individual filing a separate return, the phase-out range is not subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment and remains $0 to $10,000.
- Phase-out end, separate filers
For a married individual filing a separate return, the phase-out range is not subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment and remains $0 to $10,000.