What’s new with Roth IRA contribution limits for 2022? Be sure to bookmark this page for reference of all the rules. First, let’s recap the Roth IRA maximum contribution limits. These maximums vary depending on your age, and the 2022 IRS regulations haven’t changed significantly.
Basically, if you are under fifty in 2022, the most the IRS allows you to contribute to your Roth IRA is six thousand dollars. If you are over fifty, they are a bit more generous and allow you to contribute up to seven thousand dollars. This is known as the catch-up provision and applies to most, but not all, types of retirement accounts. Keep in mind that these max contribution limits apply to the combined contribution to both your Roth and traditional IRA, if you have both types of accounts. So your combined contribution to both of these funds cannot exceed these limits based on your age. The tricky part is the income limits. Unlike traditional IRA limits, which restrict the amount of your contribution from your taxable income, the Roth IRA rules work in reverse. This means that your income determines how much you can contribute to your Roth. These income limits are based on your modified Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) and your tax filing status. The higher your AGI, the less you can contribute.
Roth IRA Income Limits for 2022
If you file your taxes as a single filer, head of household or married filing separately (where you and your spouse did not live together), then you can make a full contribution to your Roth IRA with an income of up to one hundred and twenty nine thousand dollars. Up to this amount you face no restrictions, but once your income increases above this point, the IRS begins to “phase out” the amount you can contribute. Finally, once your income reaches above one hundred and forty four thousand dollars, no contribution is allowed. These 2022 limits are up from 2021. If your tax status is married filing jointly, your contribution limits begins to phase out at two hundred and four thousand dollars and no contributions are allowed above and income limit of two hundred fourteen thousand dollars. This 2022 rule represents an increase of six thousand dollars over 2021. Finally, if your tax status is married filing separately (you lived together at least part of the year) you can only make the maximum Roth contribution if your modified AGI was zero! The phase out income range goes up to ten thousand dollars, at which point no contributions are allowed. Check out the the graph below for more IRA contribution limits:
| Your Tax Filing Status Is | And Your Income (Modified AGI) |
Roth Rules |
|---|---|---|
| Single, head of household, or married filing separately and you and your partner did not live together. |
Less than $129,000 |
Contribute up to the maximum. |
|
From $129,000 to less than $144,000 |
Phased out contributions |
|
|
$144,000 or more |
Ineligible for Roth IRA Contributions |
|
| Married filing jointly |
Less than $204,000 |
Contribute up to the maximum. |
|
From $204,000 to less than $214,000 |
Your contribution starts to phase out. |
|
|
$214,000 or more |
Ineligible for Roth IRA contributions. |
|
| Married filing separately and you lived with your partner at least some of the year |
$0 |
Contribute up to the maximum. |
|
Between $0 and $10,000 |
Phased out contributions. |
|
|
Above $10,000 |
Nope! |
2021 Roth IRA Income Limits
Say goodbye to 2021! The upper limit for Roth contributions was six thousand dollars lower in ’21. For folks filing single or married filing separately, your income could reach up to $125,000 before starting to be phased out before reaching the upper limit of $140,000. Married couples filing jointly can earn significantly more – up to $198,000 before phasing out completely at $208,000. And if you’re married filing separately, you can see from the chart below that it’s just not worth it.
| Your Tax Filing Status Is | And Your Income (Modified AGI) |
Roth Rules |
|---|---|---|
| Single, head of household, or married filing separately and you and your partner did not live together. |
Less than $125,000 |
Contribute up to the maximum. |
|
From $125,000 to less than $140,000 |
Phased out contributions |
|
|
$140,000 or more |
Ineligible for Roth IRA Contributions |
|
| Married filing jointly |
Less than $198,000 |
Contribute up to the maximum. |
|
From $198,000 to less than $208,000 |
Your contribution starts to phase out. |
|
|
$208,000 or more |
Ineligible for Roth IRA contributions. |
|
| Married filing separately and you lived with your partner at least some of the year |
$0 |
Contribute up to the maximum. |
|
Between $0 and $10,000 |
Phased out contributions. |
|
|
Above $10,000 |
Nope! |
How to Calculate Phased Out Limits
If the amount you can contribute must be phased-out, you can figure your reduced contribution limit as follows.
- Start with your modified AGI.
- Subtract the following from the amount in step 1:
-
$204,000 (2022) if filing a joint return or qualifying widow(er),
-
$0 if married filing a separate return, and you lived with your spouse at any time during the year, or
-
$129,000 (2022) for all other individuals.
-
- Divide the result in step by $15,000 (or $10,000 if filing a joint return, qualifying widow(er), or married filing a separate return and you lived with your spouse at any time during the year).
- Multiply the maximum contribution limit (before reduction by this adjustment and before reduction for any contributions to traditional IRAs) by the result in step 3.
- Finally, subtract the result in step 4 from the maximum contribution limit before this reduction. The result is your phased out contribution limit.
