Traditional IRA deduction limits 2026: what you can still deduct

The four deduction ranges for 2026

The single and joint ranges both moved up this year, from a starting point of $79,000 and $126,000 in 2025. The joint range for a covered worker is $20,000 wide, twice the single one, which makes the reduction gentler per dollar of income. The spouse range is the same as the Roth IRA joint range, $10,000 wide.

What "covered by a plan" means

Coverage is a yes or no question asked for each spouse separately, and box 13 of Form W-2 answers it: if "Retirement plan" is checked, you count as covered for the whole year (Publication 590-A, chapter 1). In a 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), SIMPLE IRA or SEP, you are covered for a year in which any contribution or forfeiture was allocated to your account, including a match or a profit-sharing amount you did not ask for. In a defined benefit pension, being eligible to participate is enough, even if you decline. A single day of employment with a contribution can therefore turn coverage on for the entire year.

Coverage does not depend on how long you were enrolled, and it is not shared automatically between spouses: if one spouse is covered, the other is not "covered", but is subject to the higher spouse range on a joint return. Social Security and railroad retirement do not count as plans.

Worksheet 1-2: three worked cases

Inside a range the deduction is the full limit multiplied by the share of the range still ahead of your income, rounded up to the next $10, with a $200 minimum. The worksheet in Publication 590-A writes it as a percentage of the distance to the top of the range; the engine applies the same formula.

The second line shows the catch-up being reduced in proportion: at 55 the starting amount is $8,600, so the same income leaves $4,300 deductible rather than $3,750. On a joint return each spouse runs the worksheet separately, with his or her own coverage status but the couple's single MAGI, so a covered spouse and an uncovered spouse can end up with very different results.

Married filing separately

A separate return with a covered spouse in the picture uses a range of $0 to $10,000, so almost no one keeps a deduction: at $4,000 of MAGI the deductible part is already $4,500. The single line applies instead if you lived apart from your spouse for the entire year.

The modified AGI used here

The MAGI of the deduction test is the AGI on your return, before the IRA deduction itself, with a few exclusions added back: foreign earned income and housing, excluded savings bond interest, employer adoption benefits and the student loan interest deduction. It is close to, but not the same as, the Roth figure. Pre-tax deferrals into the workplace plan already lower it, so a larger 401(k) contribution can move a covered worker below $81,000, which is often worth checking before December.

When the deduction is limited: nondeductible contributions

The contribution limit is not affected by any of these ranges. If only part of your $7,500 is deductible, you can still contribute the rest; that part is a nondeductible contribution and creates basis in the IRA. You report it on Form 8606 for the year, and the form tracks the basis every year after, so that this money is not taxed a second time when you withdraw it. Forgetting Form 8606 has a cost: the IRS can charge $50 for a missing one, and without the record later withdrawals may be taxed as if they were all pre-tax.

When you take money out, each distribution is partly basis and partly taxable, in proportion to all your traditional, SEP and SIMPLE IRA balances at year end. A nondeductible contribution is also the first step of what is called a backdoor Roth: the Roth income limits page explains when the direct route is closed, and the IRA contribution limits page covers the compensation test that applies to deductible and nondeductible money alike.