Official Roth IRA
source library

Start here: Chapter 2, Roth IRAs; Chapter 1 for compensation and the spousal IRA limit.

Keep in mind: The publication mixes years in clearly labeled sections. Match the section to your tax year, then use the annual limits notice below for 2026 amounts.

Start here: Notice 2025-67, Cost-of-Living Adjustments for 2026; search within it for the account or limit you need.

Keep in mind: The number in a notice's name is not its tax year. This notice covers 2026; it does not establish 2027 limits. A ceiling is not a personal eligibility decision.

Start here: Chapter 2: qualified distributions, ordering rules, and distributions after the owner's death. Follow its cross-references for beneficiary rules.

Keep in mind: Use the Roth IRA section for a Roth IRA. An inherited account needs its own beneficiary analysis; an owner's ordinary withdrawal answer may not fit.

Start here: Who Must File, IRA definitions, and Parts I, II and III. Read the records-to-keep section too.

Keep in mind: A regular Roth contribution alone does not automatically require Form 8606. Use the instructions for the year being reported.

Start here: Part I for early distributions; Parts III and IV for excess Traditional and Roth IRA contributions; Part IX for missed required distributions.

Keep in mind: These are different problems with different rules. The year and applicable part matter; a request for a waiver is not an automatic approval.

Start here: The separate instructions for each form, including the explanation of the particular box or distribution code on your copy.

Keep in mind: These instructions are mainly written for the institution filing the form. Match the year printed on your form. Receiving a form does not by itself tell you that every reported dollar is taxable.

Start here: How do I complete a rollover?, the time-limit discussion, and Which types of distributions can I roll over?.

Keep in mind: An allowed destination does not make every distribution eligible or every move tax-free. Ask the receiving plan whether it accepts that kind of money.

Start here: Maximum Amount Contributable, Limit on Elective Deferrals, and Distributions and Rollovers.

Keep in mind: A workplace Roth account and a Roth IRA are different accounts. The publication is not a quote for your plan's fees or an annuity's exit charges.

Start here: The chapter for your plan, then the worksheets for self-employed individuals when applicable.

Keep in mind: Business profit is not automatically the compensation figure used in the contribution calculation. Check the worksheet and the year before applying a percentage.

Start here: Chapter 7, Qualified Tuition Program; Rollovers and Other Transfers. Compare the IRA rules in Publication 590-A too.

Keep in mind: This is a conditional transfer, not a general right to move any unused college money. The federal publication does not settle every state-tax or account-history question.

Start here: Qualifying for an HSA, Other health coverage, Qualified HSA funding distribution, and the separate Health FSAs section.

Keep in mind: These accounts have separate eligibility and contribution rules. Read the funding distribution's testing period before treating it as an ordinary rollover.

Start here: Sections 1.401(a)(9)-3 through -5 and 1.408-8; read the applicability provisions for the issue you are checking.

Keep in mind: This bulletin also contains a separate proposed rule. Do not treat every paragraph on the page as part of the final regulation, or apply a Traditional IRA answer automatically to a Roth IRA.

Start here: Section 1.414(v)-2 and the Applicability Dates discussion; identify the type of plan involved.

Keep in mind: A regulation's later applicability date is not automatically a delay in the underlying law. These are workplace-plan rules, not the personal Roth IRA income limits.

Start here: Subsection (c) for contributions, (d) for distributions and (e) for qualified rollover contributions; follow the cross-references.

Keep in mind: Statutory base amounts may be adjusted for inflation elsewhere. Do not lift an old dollar amount out of the Code and assume it is today's limit.

Start here: The state or event announcement, especially its affected-taxpayer and postponed-deadline sections.

Keep in mind: A disaster declaration does not mean every retirement deadline is extended. Read the actual relief announcement before changing a date.

Start here: How Social Security Determines You Have a Higher Premium, Your Tax Return, the income tables, and If Your Income Has Gone Down.

Keep in mind: The premium year and the income year can differ. This page is not an IRA contribution-limit table or a personal conversion-tax calculation.