Roth IRA Contribution Calculator: 2026 Limits & Phase-Out

The limit is full below the phase-out, shrinks inside it, and is $0 above it

A Roth IRA contribution limit is not one number — it is a range. For 2026 the IRS sets the limit at $7,500 if you are under 50 and $8,600 if you are 50 or older, and then phases it out over an income range that depends on your filing status: single / head of household $153,000–$168,000, married filing jointly $242,000–$252,000, married filing separately (lived together) $0–$10,000. Below the range you get the full limit. Inside the range the limit shrinks in proportion to how far into the range your income falls. Above the range it is $0. The formula is short: full limit = $8,600 if age ≥ 50, else $7,500; raw reduced limit = full × (upper − MAGI) / (upper − lower); allowed = raw rounded DOWN to the nearest $10; if the rounded result is more than $0 but less than $200, the allowed limit is $200 (the IRS floor); excess = max(0, planned − allowed); excise tax = 6% × excess, charged every year the excess stays in the account. On the defaults — single, age 35, MAGI $120,000, planned $7,500 — the full limit is $7,500, the MAGI is below the $153,000 phase-out start, so the allowed contribution is $7,500.00, the excess is $0, and the excise tax is $0.00.

At the defaults — filing status single, age 35, MAGI $120,000, planned $7,500 — the full limit is $7,500, the phase-out range is $153,000–$168,000, the raw reduced limit is $7,500.00, the allowed contribution is $7,500.00, the excess is $0, and the 6% excise tax is $0.00. Check the identities: full limit = $8,600 if age ≥ 50, else $7,500; raw = full × (upper − MAGI) / (upper − lower); allowed = raw rounded down to the nearest $10, with the $200 floor; excess = max(0, planned − allowed); tax = 6% × excess. The two facts most calculators get wrong are the rounding and the floor: the IRS rounds the reduced limit DOWN to the nearest $10 — never up, never to the nearest — and if that rounded result is more than $0 but less than $200, the limit is $200, not the smaller number. Rounding convention: totals are computed from unrounded values, so rounded parts may differ by a cent from their rounded sum.

The worked example, line by line

Setup: filing status single, age 35, MAGI $120,000, planned contribution $7,500.

Line 1 — the full limit. Under 50, so the full limit is $7,500.

Line 2 — the phase-out range. Single, so the range is $153,000–$168,000.

Line 3 — where the MAGI falls. $120,000 is below $153,000, so the allowed contribution is the full $7,500.00.

Line 4 — the excess. $7,500 − $7,500.00 = $0.

Line 5 — the tax. 6% × $0 = $0.00 a year.

Now the same saver at MAGI $160,000: the raw reduced limit is $7,500 × (168,000 − 160,000) / 15,000 = $4,000.00; rounded down to the nearest $10 it stays $4,000.00; the excess on a planned $7,500 is $3,500; the tax is 6% × $3,500 = $210.00 a year. At MAGI $167,900: the raw reduced limit is $7,500 × 100 / 15,000 = $50.00; rounded down to the nearest $10 it is $50 — more than $0 but less than $200 — so the IRS $200 floor lifts the allowed limit to $200.00; the excess is $7,300 and the tax is $438.00 a year. At age 55 and MAGI $160,000: the full limit is $8,600, the raw reduced limit is $8,600 × 8,000 / 15,000 = $4,586.67; rounded down to the nearest $10 it is $4,580.00; planning the full $8,600 leaves $4,020 of excess and $241.20 a year in tax.

Reverse: the max MAGI for the full limit is $153,000 single (exact $153,000; MFJ $242,000); at $153,000 the limit is $7,500.00, at $153,001 it is $7,490 — $153,000 is the nearest. The MAGI for exactly a $5,000 limit is $158,000 (exact $158,000); at $158,000 the limit is $5,000.00, at $158,001 it is $4,990 — $158,000 is the nearest. The MAGI for exactly a $2,500 limit is $163,000 (exact $163,000); at $163,000 the limit is $2,500.00, at $163,001 it is $2,490 — $163,000 is the nearest. The MAGI for exactly a $1,000 limit is $166,000 (exact $166,000); at $166,000 the limit is $1,000.00, at $166,001 it is $990 — $166,000 is the nearest. The MAGI where the $200 floor starts is $167,600 (exact $167,600); at $167,600 the limit is $200.00, at $167,601 it is $200.00 — $167,600 is the nearest. The MAGI where the limit hits $0 is $168,000 (exact $168,000; MFJ $252,000); at $168,000 the limit is $0.00, at $167,999 it is $200.00 — $168,000 is the nearest. The MAGI for exactly a $4,000 limit at 50+ is $161,023 (exact $161,023.26); at $161,023 the limit at age 55 is $4,000.00, at $161,024 it is $3,990 — $161,023 is the nearest.

Every branch, checked

MAGI $155,000: allowed $6,500.00, excess $1,000, 6% tax $60.00. $2,000 into the $15,000 phase-out range, so the limit shrinks by 2,000 / 15,000 — about 13% — from $7,500.00 to $6,500.00. Planning the full $7,500 leaves $1,000 of excess, taxed at 6% — $60.00 a year.

MAGI $160,000: allowed $4,000.00, excess $3,500, 6% tax $210.00. $7,000 into the range — nearly half of it — so the limit is $4,000.00. Planning the full $7,500 leaves $3,500 of excess, taxed at 6% — $210.00 a year.

MAGI $165,000: allowed $1,500.00, excess $6,000, 6% tax $360.00. $12,000 into the range — four-fifths of it gone — so the limit is $1,500.00. Planning the full $7,500 leaves $6,000 of excess, taxed at 6% — $360.00 a year.

MAGI $167,000: allowed $500.00, excess $7,000, 6% tax $420.00. $14,000 into the range — only $1,000 of range left — so the limit is $500.00. Planning the full $7,500 leaves $7,000 of excess, taxed at 6% — $420.00 a year.

MAGI $167,900 (the $200 floor): allowed $200.00, excess $7,300, 6% tax $438.00. The raw reduced limit is only $50.00, which rounds down to $50 — under $200 — so the IRS $200 floor lifts the limit to $200.00. Planning the full $7,500 leaves $7,300 of excess, taxed at 6% — $438.00 a year.

MAGI $168,000: allowed $0.00, excess $7,500, 6% tax $450.00. At the top of the range the limit is $0.00. The whole planned $7,500 is excess, taxed at 6% — $450.00 a year.

Age 55, MAGI $100,000: allowed $8,600.00, excess $0, 6% tax $0.00. Below the phase-out, so the full $8,600 catch-up limit applies. The planned $7,500 fits inside it with room to spare — no excess, no tax.

Age 55, MAGI $160,000, planned $8,600: allowed $4,580.00, excess $4,020, 6% tax $241.20. The raw reduced limit is $4,586.67, which rounds down to the nearest $10 — $4,580.00. Planning the full $8,600 leaves $4,020 of excess, taxed at 6% — $241.20 a year.

MFJ, MAGI $247,000: allowed $3,750.00, excess $3,750, 6% tax $225.00. $5,000 into the $10,000 MFJ range — exactly half of it — so the limit is $3,750.00. Planning the full $7,500 leaves $3,750 of excess, taxed at 6% — $225.00 a year.

MFJ, MAGI $250,000: allowed $1,500.00, excess $6,000, 6% tax $360.00. $8,000 into the $10,000 MFJ range — so the limit is $1,500.00. Planning the full $7,500 leaves $6,000 of excess, taxed at 6% — $360.00 a year.

MFJ, MAGI $242,000: allowed $7,500.00, excess $0, 6% tax $0.00. Exactly at the MFJ phase-out start, so the full $7,500 still applies. No excess, no tax — one dollar more and the limit starts shrinking.

Planned $5,000 at MAGI $160,000: allowed $4,000.00, excess $1,000, 6% tax $60.00. The limit is still $4,000.00, so planning $5,000 leaves only $1,000 of excess — $60.00 a year in tax. Contributing less shrinks the tax.

Planned $4,000 at MAGI $160,000: allowed $4,000.00, excess $0, 6% tax $0.00. Exactly at the $4,000.00 limit — no excess, no tax. Planning the limit to the dollar is the cleanest way to stay inside it.

MFS, MAGI $5,000: allowed $3,750.00, excess $3,750, 6% tax $225.00. Half of the $0–$10,000 MFS range — so the limit is $3,750.00. Planning the full $7,500 leaves $3,750 of excess, taxed at 6% — $225.00 a year.

MFS, MAGI $10,000: allowed $0.00, excess $7,500, 6% tax $450.00. At the top of the MFS range the limit is $0.00. The whole planned $7,500 is excess, taxed at 6% — $450.00 a year.

What the defaults assume

The model takes your MAGI as given — working out modified adjusted gross income from your adjusted gross income is outside it (start with your AGI and add back the items the IRS counts, such as the foreign earned income exclusion). It assumes the catch-up starts in the year you turn 50: at age 50 exactly the limit is $8,600, at age 49 it is $7,500. It assumes married filing separately means you lived with your spouse at some point during the year — if you lived apart for the whole year, the IRS lets you use the single range instead. It covers direct Roth IRA contributions only, not the backdoor route (contributing to a traditional IRA and converting — different rules, and the pro-rata rule can tax the conversion). With MAGI $0 the allowed contribution is the full $7,500. With MFJ MAGI $252,000 the allowed contribution is $0.00. Rounding convention: totals are computed from unrounded values, so rounded parts may differ by a cent from their rounded sum; the reverses are nearest-value solutions, and the exact unrounded figures ($153,000, $158,000, $163,000, $166,000, $167,600, $168,000, $161,023.26) are stated wherever the rounded figures appear.

Output · formula · meaning

Who uses this

• The saver earning $120,000 checking the full $7,500 fits: they learn their MAGI is below the $153,000 phase-out start, so the allowed contribution is $7,500.00 with no excess and no tax — and they check the $153,000 reverse before assuming a raise next year is free.
• The earner at $160,000 who planned the full $7,500: they learn the limit is $4,000.00 and the extra $3,500 would cost $210.00 a year in excise tax — so they check the planned-$4,000 branch ($0 excess, $0.00 tax) before contributing.
• The 55-year-old at $160,000: they learn the catch-up lifts the full limit to $8,600 but the phase-out still bites: the raw limit is $4,586.67, rounded down to $4,580.00, and planning $8,600 leaves $4,020 of excess taxed at $241.20 a year.
• The married couple at $247,000: they learn the MFJ limit is $3,750.00 — exactly half the $10,000 range gone — and the excess on the full $7,500 would cost $225.00 a year, so they check the MFJ-$242,000 branch (full $7,500, $0 excess) before filing.

Accuracy & limitations

The math follows IRS Notice 2025-67 exactly for 2026: the $7,500 limit, the $1,100 catch-up to $8,600 at 50+, the phase-out ranges (single $153,000–$168,000, MFJ $242,000–$252,000, MFS $0–$10,000), the round-down to the nearest $10, the $200 floor, and the 6% excise tax on the excess every year it stays in. The 2-decimal raws are shown where the rounding matters: at age 55 and MAGI $160,000 the raw is $4,586.67 (shown as $4,580.00 after the $10 round-down); at MAGI $161,023 and age 55 the raw is $4,000.15 (shown as $4,000.00); at MAGI $167,599 the raw is $200.50 (shown as $200.00 after the $10 round-down) and at $167,601 the raw is $199.50 (shown as $200.00 by the $200 floor). What the model cannot do is work out your MAGI for you, or tell you whether a backdoor Roth conversion makes sense — for the wider 2026 limits, see the 2026 retirement contribution limits; for whether a Roth or a traditional IRA fits you better, see the Roth vs traditional IRA comparison. This is a calculator, not tax advice.