2026 Roth IRA Income Limit
For 2026, the Roth IRA Income Limit is $153,000 (Phase-out start, single filers), $168,000 (Phase-out end, single filers), $242,000 (Phase-out start, joint filers) and $252,000 (Phase-out end, joint filers).
| Item | Single filers | Joint filers |
|---|---|---|
| Phase-out start | $153,000 | $242,000 |
| Phase-out end | $168,000 | $252,000 |
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Notice 2025-67 (IRS)Verified 2026-08-29
Compared with 2025
| Item | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase-out start, single filers | $150,000 | $153,000 | +$3,000 (+2.0%) |
| Phase-out end, single filers | $165,000 | $168,000 | +$3,000 (+1.8%) |
| Phase-out start, joint filers | $236,000 | $242,000 | +$6,000 (+2.5%) |
| Phase-out end, joint filers | $246,000 | $252,000 | +$6,000 (+2.4%) |
Who it applies to
The range applies to a taxpayer contributing to a Roth IRA, and which range applies is decided by filing status and by adjusted gross income for the year. Married couples filing jointly, and taxpayers filing as a qualifying widow(er), use the range that starts at $242,000 and ends at $252,000. Singles and heads of household use the range that starts at $153,000 and ends at $168,000. A married individual filing a separate return is treated differently again: Notice 2025-67 states that this phase-out range is not subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment, so it did not move for 2026 while the other two did. A taxpayer whose adjusted gross income is below the start of the applicable range is not touched by the phase-out at all, and is instead limited only by the separate dollar ceiling on IRA contributions that the same notice sets under section 219.
What changed this year, and why
For 2026 the adjusted gross income phase-out range for taxpayers making contributions to a Roth IRA is between $242,000 and $252,000 for married couples filing jointly, increased from between $236,000 and $246,000. For singles and heads of household the range is between $153,000 and $168,000, increased from between $150,000 and $165,000. Both ends of both ranges moved up. Notice 2025-67 reaches them by raising the adjusted gross income limitation under section 408A from $236,000 to $242,000 for a joint return or a qualifying widow(er), and from $150,000 to $153,000 for all other taxpayers other than married taxpayers filing separately.
Common questions
- What is the Roth IRA income limit for 2026 if I file single?
- For 2026 the adjusted gross income phase-out range for singles and heads of household is between $153,000 and $168,000. Below $153,000 the phase-out does not bite. Across the range the maximum Roth IRA contribution is reduced as income rises, and at $168,000 the range is exhausted. Notice 2025-67 sets both ends, working from the adjusted gross income limitation under section 408A.
- What is the Roth IRA income limit for married filing jointly in 2026?
- The range runs between $242,000 and $252,000 of adjusted gross income for 2026, and the same range covers a taxpayer filing as a qualifying widow(er). Notice 2025-67 sets $242,000 as the adjusted gross income limitation under section 408A for a joint return and gives $252,000 as the top of the phase-out range. A couple below $242,000 is outside the phase-out entirely.
- How much did the Roth IRA income limits change for 2026?
- Notice 2025-67 moves the joint range from between $236,000 and $246,000 to between $242,000 and $252,000, and the range for singles and heads of household from between $150,000 and $165,000 to between $153,000 and $168,000. Each end moved separately under the notice's rounding rules, so the two ends of a range do not shift by matching steps.
- What happens if my income is above the Roth IRA phase-out range?
- The range ends at $168,000 for singles and heads of household and at $252,000 for married couples filing jointly. Notice 2025-67 describes these as the adjusted gross income phase-out range for taxpayers making contributions to a Roth IRA, so income at the top of the applicable range leaves nothing of the contribution the limitation would otherwise allow. Between the two ends the amount is reduced rather than removed.
- Do heads of household use the single or the joint Roth IRA range?
- The single range. Notice 2025-67 groups singles and heads of household together and gives them one range for 2026, between $153,000 and $168,000. The range between $242,000 and $252,000 is reserved for married couples filing jointly and for taxpayers filing as a qualifying widow(er). The notice draws no separate head of household figure for Roth IRA contributions.
- What is the Roth IRA income limit for married filing separately?
- Notice 2025-67 states that for a married individual filing a separate return the phase-out range is not subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment. It therefore stayed where it was for 2026 while the others rose, and it is stated in the notice as its own range, distinct from the $153,000 to $168,000 range for singles and heads of household and from the $242,000 to $252,000 range for joint returns.
- What income figure does the Roth IRA limit use?
- Adjusted gross income. Notice 2025-67 states the 2026 amounts as adjusted gross income limitations under section 408A, then restates them as an adjusted gross income phase-out range for taxpayers making contributions to a Roth IRA. That income measure, together with filing status, is what places a taxpayer below, inside, or above the applicable range for the year.
- Where do the 2026 Roth IRA income limits come from?
- Notice 2025-67, titled 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs, as Adjusted for Changes in Cost-of-Living. It states the adjusted gross income limitations under section 408A and then the resulting phase-out ranges for 2026: $242,000 to $252,000 for married couples filing jointly and $153,000 to $168,000 for singles and heads of household, after its rounding rules are applied.
Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The Roth IRA phase-out headroom 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
This sentence introduces the income-based phaseout that applies to Roth IRA contributions. When a taxpayer's modified AGI rises above the phaseout threshold for their filing status, the maximum amount they may contribute to a Roth IRA is gradually reduced rather than eliminated all at once. For 2026, the phaseout begins at $153,000 of modified AGI for single filers and at $242,000 for married couples filing jointly. The reduction continues across a range of income and ends completely once modified AGI reaches $168,000 for single filers or $252,000 for joint filers. Taxpayers whose modified AGI falls below the phaseout start may contribute up to the full annual limit. The IRS publishes a table (Table 2-1 in Publication 590-A) that lets contributors look up whether the reduction applies to them based on their filing status and income level.
Contribution limit reduced. If your modified AGI is above a certain amount, your contribution limit is gradually reduced.
Publication 590-A (2025), Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (IRS)
Figuring the reduced limit, and how it is rounded
Once the IRS formula produces a reduced contribution limit, the result is not left as a fractional dollar amount. You must round it up to the next whole multiple of $10. There is also a special floor: if the rounded figure is greater than $0 but falls below $200, the limit is raised to $200 so that a small residual entitlement is not lost entirely. This floor prevents taxpayers with only a tiny remaining contribution room from being left with effectively nothing. If the calculation produces $0, the floor does not apply and no Roth IRA contribution is permitted for the year.
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 (2025), Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (IRS)
The income the test uses is modified AGI
The income test that determines whether your Roth IRA contribution limit is reduced is based on modified AGI, not the regular adjusted gross income shown on page 1 of your tax return. Modified AGI starts with your AGI and then adds back certain items the IRS specifies for this purpose, the most common being income from a Roth conversion. Because conversions can substantially increase the number used for the phase-out, taxpayers who are converting a traditional IRA to a Roth in the same year may find that the conversion itself pushes their modified AGI higher and reduces or eliminates the very contribution room they were trying to use. The IRS provides Worksheet 2-1 to compute the correct modified AGI figure to use in the phase-out calculation.
Modified AGI. Your modified AGI for Roth IRA purposes is your AGI as shown on your return with some adjust- ments. Use Worksheet 2-1 to determine your modified AGI.
Publication 590-A (2025), Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (IRS)
Traditional and Roth contributions share one annual limit
A taxpayer's annual contribution limit is not calculated separately for traditional and Roth IRAs. Instead, there is a single overall limit, and Roth IRA room is what remains after any contributions to traditional IRAs are taken into account. In practice, you first determine what your limit would be if you contributed only to Roth IRAs, and then you subtract from that figure every contribution made for the year to traditional IRAs (other than employer contributions to a SEP or SIMPLE plan). The result is the most you may put into Roth IRAs for the year. This rule means that contributing to a traditional IRA directly reduces the room available for Roth contributions dollar for dollar, up to the overall annual limit.
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 is generally 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 (2025), 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 2025-67 (IRS)
- Phase-out start, single filers
For singles and heads of household, the income phase-out range is between $153,000 and $168,000
- Phase-out end, single filers
For singles and heads of household, the income phase-out range is between $153,000 and $168,000
- Phase-out start, joint filers
the adjusted gross income phase-out range for taxpayers making contributions to a Roth IRA is between $242,000 and $252,000 for married couples filing jointly
- Phase-out end, joint filers
the adjusted gross income phase-out range for taxpayers making contributions to a Roth IRA is between $242,000 and $252,000 for married couples filing jointly