The Internal Revenue Service raised the income range that limits Roth IRA contributions for 2027. For married couples filing jointly, direct contributions phase out between $250,000 and $260,000 of modified adjusted gross income, up from $242,000 to $252,000 in 2026.
The annual contribution limit itself did not move. It stays at $7,500, so the change affects who can contribute the full amount, a reduced amount, or nothing, not how much the limit is. The agency also lifted the income ranges that control whether a traditional IRA contribution is deductible for people covered by a workplace plan.
The 2027 Roth IRA income ranges by filing status
The figures come from the IRS November 12 announcement, release IR-2026-136, which cites Notice 2026-66. The Roth IRA ranges for 2027 are:
- Single and head of household: $158,000 to $173,000, up from $153,000 to $168,000.
- Married filing jointly: $250,000 to $260,000, up from $242,000 to $252,000.
- Married filing separately: $0 to $10,000, unchanged because that range is not adjusted for inflation.
Below the bottom of a range, the full limit applies. Above the top, no direct Roth IRA contribution is allowed. Inside the range, the permitted amount shrinks. The IRS measures income using modified adjusted gross income, which is not always the same figure as the adjusted gross income printed on a tax return.
Open job: The IRS notice sets Roth IRA contribution ranges but does not say how a Roth account fits into the order in which retirement accounts are drawn down, a decision the account withdrawal order and the Roth bracket fill calculator are built for in The Retirement Tax & Withdrawal Planner.
How a reduced Roth IRA contribution is figured
The IRS explains the reduction on its page about Roth IRA contribution amounts. The worksheet there subtracts the bottom of the range from modified adjusted gross income, divides the result by $10,000 for joint filers (or $15,000 for single filers), multiplies the maximum limit by that fraction, and subtracts the product from the maximum limit. That page covers 2024, and the 2027 worksheet had not been read for this article, so the example below applies the same method to the new range as arithmetic only.
Take a married couple filing jointly with modified adjusted gross income of $255,000. That is $5,000 above the $250,000 start of the 2027 range. Divided by $10,000, the fraction is one half, and half of the $7,500 limit is $3,750. On that arithmetic, the reduced limit would be $3,750 for each spouse who contributes, subject to the IRS worksheet and each person’s own circumstances.
The same couple would have been shut out under the 2026 range, which ended at $252,000. The higher 2027 range is what moves $255,000 from no direct Roth contribution to a partial one.
Traditional IRA deduction ranges for people with workplace plans
Roth contributions are not deductible, so the Roth range is about eligibility. The traditional IRA ranges are about whether a contribution can be deducted. The IRS lists these 2027 ranges in the same release:
- Single filer covered by a workplace plan: $83,000 to $93,000, up from $81,000 to $91,000.
- Married filing jointly, the contributing spouse covered by a workplace plan: $133,000 to $153,000, up from $129,000 to $149,000.
- Contributing spouse not covered, but married to someone who is: $250,000 to $260,000, up from $242,000 to $252,000.
- Married filing separately, covered by a workplace plan: $0 to $10,000, unchanged.
Anyone not covered by a workplace plan is not subject to these deduction ranges. Whether a person counts as covered depends on the employer plan and the contributions made to it, which is why the same couple can land in two different ranges.
What stays the same in 2027
The IRA contribution limit stays at $7,500, and the catch-up amount for people 50 and older stays at $1,100, according to the IRS. The agency also said the 401(k) employee deferral limit rises to $25,500 from $24,500 in 2026. Those workplace plan changes are separate from the IRA income ranges and do not alter the Roth or deduction ranges above.
Because the married filing separately range stays at $0 to $10,000, a spouse who files separately and lived with the other spouse at any point in the year sees no cost-of-living relief. A separate filer in that situation hits the cutoff at very low income.
Contribution deadline and the 6% excess contribution tax
IRS Publication 590-A says contributions for a year can be made by the due date for filing the return for that year, not including extensions. For 2027, that points to the 2028 filing deadline, though the exact date depends on the calendar that year. An extension to file does not extend the contribution window.
The costly mistake is contributing the full limit without checking modified adjusted gross income first. The IRS IRA contribution limits page says excess contributions are taxed at 6% per year for each year the excess stays in the account. The tax can be avoided by withdrawing the excess, plus any income it earned, by the due date of the tax return, including extensions. Publication 590-A lists Form 5329 for reporting additional taxes on IRAs.
Income is not known until the year ends, which makes a mid-year full contribution a guess. People near the top of a range can find that a late bonus or a capital gain pushes modified adjusted gross income over the line after the money is already in the account.
Roth IRA income limits and the withdrawal order
The IRS income ranges decide whether a direct Roth IRA contribution is allowed, but they say nothing about how Roth and traditional balances are used once a household starts drawing on them. That second decision involves tax brackets, and the Roth versus traditional split is where many households go wrong.
The Retirement Tax & Withdrawal Planner is a 12-page planner that pairs the account withdrawal order with a Roth bracket fill calculator, one of its four calculators, to work through that split.
Read the account withdrawal order in The Retirement Tax & Withdrawal Planner.
This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy against Internal Revenue Service announcements and publications.
Julian Harrow specializes in taxation, IRS rules, and compliance strategy. His work helps readers navigate complex tax codes, deadlines, and reporting requirements while identifying opportunities for efficiency and risk reduction. At The Daily Overview, Julian breaks down tax-related topics with precision and clarity, making a traditionally dense subject easier to understand.
