Can I Contribute to a Roth IRA?

This tool answers one narrow question in plain English: what is your 2026 direct Roth ceiling after the age and Roth-MAGI rules? It checks whether some eligible compensation exists, then applies filing status, age and MAGI. It does not collect the compensation amount or prior regular IRA contributions, so the displayed ceiling is not automatically the amount still available to deposit.

Think of this as the first number on your checklist, not permission to move money. The tool accepts your answer about compensation; it cannot prove that the income qualifies or that you have enough of it. It also does not subtract contributions you already made.

Who should use this tool

Use it for a regular 2026 Roth IRA contribution when you know your filing status and Roth-specific MAGI. It is not a rollover, conversion, excess-contribution correction or employer SEP/SIMPLE contribution calculator. Uncertain compensation, special repayments and other unusual transactions need a separate review.

If you need help building MAGI, the MAGI Estimator is a starting point. Reconcile it with the applicable IRS worksheet and your records. This tool takes the number you enter as an assumption.

Walking through the four inputs

Step 1: Qualifying compensation. Pay from work commonly qualifies. Self-employment compensation generally uses net earnings reduced by the deductible part of self-employment tax and deductible retirement-plan contributions made for you. Certain taxable non-tuition graduate/postdoctoral stipends and nontaxable combat pay also count. Taxable alimony can count under a pre-2019 instrument that has not been modified to exclude it. A W-2 is not always necessary. Investment income, pensions, Social Security, unemployment and ordinary property rents do not qualify. A business providing substantial services to rental customers needs separate analysis.

On a joint return, the spousal-IRA rule can support a contribution for a spouse with little or no compensation, subject to the couple's available compensation and both spouses' regular IRA contributions. Choose "Not sure yet" if those facts are unsettled; the tool will not invent a dollar answer.

Step 2: Filing status. Single and Head of Household share one income range. Qualifying Surviving Spouse uses the same range as Married Filing Jointly: $242,000–$252,000 for 2026. Married Filing Separately uses $0–$10,000 if you lived with your spouse at any time during the year; if you lived apart all year, the Single/Head of Household range applies. The tool asks that follow-up because it changes the result.

Step 3: Age at year-end. If you turn 50 or older by December 31, 2026, the base limit rises from $7,500 to $8,600 thanks to the $1,100 catch-up. You don't have to be 50 on the contribution date — only on any day during the calendar year.

Step 4: 2026 Roth MAGI. Enter your Roth-specific income figure. Inside the phase-out band, this estimate reduces the age-based cap, rounds upward to a multiple of $10 and applies the $200 minimum. That minimum is part of this income-limit calculation, not guaranteed contribution room. At the upper cutoff, the result is zero.

How to read the result

Full age/MAGI ceiling means the income test does not reduce the age-based cap. Reduced age/MAGI ceiling means it does. At or above the income cutoff means no direct regular contribution under that income test. None of these labels decides whether a conversion is appropriate or tax-free.

Why the distinction matters: suppose a hypothetical saver under 50 has $160,500 of 2026 Single-filer Roth MAGI but only $4,000 of qualifying compensation. Assume no spousal rule and no other IRA contributions. The displayed age/MAGI ceiling is $3,750: $7,500 × 50%. The actual income-reduced limit is $2,000: $4,000 × 50%. Simply taking the smaller of $3,750 and $4,000 would give the wrong answer. This illustrates why you must also use the compensation-aware calculation.

Checks to make before depositing

• Apply the income reduction to the right starting amount. IRS Publication 590-A, Worksheet 2-2 starts with the smaller of the annual age-based cap and qualifying compensation, then reconciles contributions to other IRAs. This tool does not perform that complete calculation.
• Forgetting that the combined IRA limit includes Traditional contributions. If you contribute $3,000 to a Traditional IRA and $5,000 to a Roth, and your base limit is $7,500, you've over-contributed by $500 — even though neither account exceeds its standalone limit. The tool's eligibility check does not replace this combined-limit check.
• Use Roth-specific MAGI. Worksheet 2-1 removes taxable IRA-to-Roth conversion and eligible plan-to-Roth rollover income, then adds back the Traditional IRA deduction, student-loan interest deduction, specified foreign income/housing amounts, excluded qualified savings-bond interest and excluded employer adoption benefits. A separate Social Security recalculation can apply. Do not automatically add passive losses or an obsolete tuition-and-fees deduction.
• Missing the MFS lived-apart exception. A separated couple filing MFS who lived apart for the entire year uses the Single band, not the $0–$10,000 band. This is a common cause of incorrect "ineligible" answers.
• Ignoring the spousal path. A spouse with no compensation who files jointly may have up to the $7,500/$8,600 age-based ceiling, but the couple's combined compensation and both spouses' regular IRA contributions still limit the actual amount. The tool flags this path automatically.

After you get the answer

Before depositing, check your qualifying compensation, the income reduction and prior regular Traditional/Roth IRA contributions together. Our contribution-limits guide explains the calculation. Regular IRA contributions share one annual cap; ordinary rollovers and conversions are not new regular contributions. Special transactions, including 529-to-Roth transfers, need their own rules.

The usual 2026 contribution deadline is April 15, 2027, without an ordinary filing extension. Specific disaster or combat-zone relief can postpone it. During the following year's contribution window, tell the custodian explicitly which tax year the deposit is for and allow processing time. This tool has no calendar-export feature.

If direct room is limited, the Backdoor Roth Diagnostic provides separate sequence and record checks, not a recommendation. Pro-rata calculations combine your Traditional IRAs, including Traditional SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, not Roth versions or a spouse's IRAs. A Traditional SIMPLE IRA also has a two-year transfer restriction. Check the detailed Backdoor Roth guide before taking action.