SIMPLE IRA contribution limits 2026: which of the two limits is yours
A SIMPLE IRA has a lower deferral limit than a 401(k), and since 2024 it has two of them depending on the size of the employer. The calculator picks the right one, adds your catch-up and shows what the employer must put in.
Your 2026 SIMPLE deferral limit
$21,950
Plus $2,100 from the employer.
| Base limit | $18,100 |
| Catch-up | $3,850 |
| Employer contribution | $2,100 |
| Total going in | $24,050 |
Worked out by Radif Partners · How we calculate · limits read on irs.gov · not personal financial advice
For 2026 the standard SIMPLE IRA deferral limit is $17,000. A higher limit of $18,100, 110 % of the old figure indexed, applies automatically at employers with 25 or fewer employees, and at employers with 26 to 100 employees that choose it and pay a higher employer contribution. Catch-ups come in three sizes: $4,000 from the year you turn 50 in a standard plan, $3,850 in a plan using the higher limit, and $5,250 in any SIMPLE plan for the years you turn 60 to 63. On top of that the employer adds a 3 % match or 2 % of pay for everyone eligible. An office manager born in 1970 earning $70,000 at a 12-person practice can defer $21,950 and receive a match of $2,100. SIMPLE plans are outside the Roth catch-up rule, so her catch-up can stay pre-tax whatever her pay.
The 2026 SIMPLE limits in one table
SECURE 2.0 split the SIMPLE limit in two from 2024. Notice 2025-67 sets the 2026 amounts: $17,000 under section 408(p)(2)(E)(i)(III), up from $16,500, and $18,100 under the "certain accounts or plans" wording of (I) and (II) (Notice 2025-67).
| Age on December 31, 2026 | Standard plan | Plan with the higher limit |
|---|---|---|
| Under 50 | $17,000 | $18,100 |
| 50 to 59, or 64 and over | $21,000 | $21,950 |
| 60 to 63 (born 1963 to 1966) | $22,250 | $23,350 |
The catch-up column holds an oddity. In a plan with the higher base, the age 50 catch-up is $3,850, which is less than the $4,000 of a standard plan, because the higher one is pegged to an older figure that the IRS kept unchanged for 2026. The total is still larger: $21,950 against $21,000 for the same 56 year old. At 60 to 63 both kinds of plan use $5,250.
Which limit applies to your employer
The size test counts employees who earned at least $5,000 from the employer in the preceding year. With 25 or fewer, the plan uses the higher limits without doing anything. With 26 to 100, the employer may opt in, but only by raising its own contribution to a 4 % match or a 3 % nonelective contribution for the year. An employer that grows past 25 keeps the automatic higher limits for a two-year grace period, unless the growth comes from an acquisition, and after that only by making the election (Notice 2024-2, Q&A E-2 to E-5). If you do not know which side your plan is on, the summary description or the annual notice the employer must give before the election period says so.
Above 100 employees an employer cannot keep a SIMPLE IRA past a short grace period; it moves to a 401(k), where the regular $24,500 limit applies (401(k) limits).
Your SIMPLE limit at a larger employer
Your 2026 SIMPLE deferral limit
$21,000
| Base limit | $17,000 |
| Catch-up | $4,000 |
| Employer contribution | $2,100 |
| Total going in | $23,100 |
What the employer must add
A SIMPLE IRA does not leave the employer's share to chance. Each year it chooses one of two formulas and applies it to every eligible employee. The match is dollar for dollar on your deferrals up to 3 % of pay; the employer may lower it to as little as 1 % in no more than two years out of five, with notice. The alternative is a nonelective contribution of 2 % of pay, paid whether or not you defer, and computed on pay up to the $360,000 compensation cap.
For the office manager earning $70,000, a 3 % match is worth $2,100 if she defers at least that much, and the 2 % nonelective formula would give $1,400. A 35 year old earning $48,000 who defers nothing receives nothing under the match but $960 under the 2 % formula, on top of a personal limit of $17,000 he could use. Since 2024 an employer may also add an extra nonelective contribution of up to 10 % of pay, within a small yearly dollar cap that Notice 2025-67 also indexes.
Catch-ups without the Roth rule
From 2026, participants in 401(k), 403(b) and governmental 457(b) plans whose prior-year FICA wages from the employer topped $150,000 must make catch-ups as Roth. Section 414(v)(7) leaves SIMPLE IRAs out of that rule. A technician born in 1964, 62 at the end of 2026, can put $23,350 into a SIMPLE IRA at a small employer, and the $5,250 of catch-up may remain pre-tax even with high wages. A SIMPLE IRA can accept Roth deferrals if the provider offers them, but the choice is yours.
Catch-up in a SIMPLE plan for your birth year
Your 2026 catch-up
$5,250
| Age on December 31, 2026 | 62 |
| Base limit | $18,100 |
| Catch-up | $5,250 |
| First year of catch-up | 2014 |
Rules that catch people out
The SIMPLE limit is not a separate pot. SIMPLE deferrals count toward the personal limit of section 402(g), shared with any 401(k) or 403(b) you contribute to in the same year. Someone who leaves a 401(k) job in June after deferring $15,000 and joins a small firm with a SIMPLE IRA can defer only what is left under the 401(k) figure, and no more than the SIMPLE limit in the new plan.
Withdrawals during the first two years of participation, before 59 and a half, are taxed at 25 % instead of the usual 10 %, and money cannot be rolled to a non-SIMPLE IRA in that window without the same cost. Deferrals must be deposited by the employer within 30 days after the end of the month in which they were withheld. And the employer contribution does not count against your deferral limit: the office manager can defer $21,950 and still receive the $2,100 match. For the other workplace limits, see the catch-up guide and the SEP IRA page.