Whether you can put money into a Roth IRA depends on your modified adjusted gross income, and the cut-offs move every year. The 2026 ranges rose, which lets slightly more people contribute.
This guide lists the 2026 income limits by filing status, the contribution limit, how the phase-out shrinks your allowed amount with tables and a worked example, and how MAGI is defined for this purpose. It follows the IRS announcement of the 2026 limits and Publication 590-A.
| Filing status | Full contribution if MAGI is below | Reduced contribution | No contribution at or above |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single or head of household | $153,000 | $153,000 to $168,000 | $168,000 |
| Married filing jointly (or qualifying surviving spouse) | $242,000 | $242,000 to $252,000 | $252,000 |
| Married filing separately, lived with spouse at any time in the year | $0 | $0 to $10,000 | $10,000 |
These are the 2026 phase-out ranges announced by the IRS in November 2025. For 2025 they were $150,000 to $165,000 (single and head of household) and $236,000 to $246,000 (joint). The range for a married person filing separately who lived with their spouse is not adjusted for inflation and remains $0 to $10,000. Under Publication 590-A, a married filer who files separately and did not live with their spouse at any time in the year uses the single-filer limits.
The IRS raised the annual IRA contribution limit to $7,500 for 2026, up from $7,000. The catch-up contribution for people aged 50 and over is $1,100, up from $1,000, so the total for someone 50 or older is $8,600 (derived: $7,500 + $1,100). The limit is the lesser of the dollar limit or your taxable compensation, and it applies across all your IRAs, so contributions to a traditional IRA count against the same total. Roth IRA contributions can be made regardless of your age, and you do not report them on your return.
If your MAGI falls inside the range, Publication 590-A's Worksheet 2-2 reduces the limit in proportion to how far through the range you are: subtract the bottom of the range from your MAGI, divide by the width of the range ($15,000 for single and head of household, $10,000 for joint), multiply by your limit and subtract the result from the limit. You round the reduced limit up to the nearest $10, and if it is more than $0 but less than $200 it is increased to $200.
The tables below apply that worksheet to the 2026 ranges and the $7,500 limit, for a person under 50 with enough compensation. They are our calculation (the worksheet in the publication uses the 2025 amounts), so confirm with the worksheet in the 2026 publication when it is released.
Single or head of household
| MAGI | Largest Roth contribution |
|---|---|
| $153,000 or less | $7,500 |
| $155,000 | $6,510 |
| $160,000 | $4,000 |
| $165,000 | $1,500 |
| $167,900 | $200 |
| $168,000 or more | $0 |
Married filing jointly
| MAGI | Largest Roth contribution |
|---|---|
| $242,000 or less | $7,500 |
| $245,000 | $5,250 |
| $250,000 | $1,500 |
| $251,900 | $200 |
| $252,000 or more | $0 |
A single 40-year-old has taxable compensation of $90,000 and a MAGI of $160,000. The distance into the range is $7,000 out of $15,000, or 0.467. The reduction is 0.467 x $7,500 = $3,502.50, leaving $3,997.50, which rounds up to $4,000. The person can put $4,000 in a Roth IRA for 2026, and could put the rest of the $7,500 limit in a traditional IRA, since the limit is shared across both.
MAGI for Roth purposes is not the same as the number on your return. Worksheet 2-1 in Publication 590-A starts from adjusted gross income, subtracts any income from converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA and from rolling a qualified plan into a Roth IRA, and then adds back the traditional IRA deduction, the student loan interest deduction, and certain exclusions: foreign earned income and housing amounts, savings bond interest excluded under Form 8815, and employer-provided adoption benefits excluded under Form 8839. Our backdoor Roth IRA guide explains one way people with higher incomes use Roth conversions, and our Form 8606 guide covers the form that tracks nondeductible IRA contributions.
The IRS usually announces the next year's IRA and Roth limits in the autumn; the 2026 announcement was dated 13 November 2025. As of late October 2026 the 2027 figures had not been published on the IRS cost-of-living adjustments page, which still lists 2026 as the latest year, so the numbers on this page are for 2026 and will be updated when the IRS announces the new ones. Our 2027 retirement contribution limits page tracks the projected figures.
IRS news release IR-2025-111: 401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA limit increases to $7,500, IRS Publication 590-A (2025).