Roth IRA Phaseouts for 2025: Are You Still Eligible to Contribute Before the April Deadline?
Key Points
The deadline for contributing to a Roth IRA for 2025 is April 15, 2026.
You may have to reduce your contribution if you earned over a certain amount in 2025.
There's a loophole that could give you access to the Roth IRA even if you earned too much.
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While the calendar has long-since flipped over to 2026, you still have a few more days to contribute to an IRA for 2025. The deadline for 2025 contributions is April 15, the same day taxes are due.
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But not everyone will qualify to contribute to a Roth IRA. There are important income restrictions imposed on the account that you need to be mindful of.
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Did you earn under these income limits?
The amount you can contribute to a Roth IRA may be limited by your modified adjusted gross income. That's your gross income minus any adjustments such as alimony payments, HSA contributions, self-employment tax, and more. Importantly, the modified adjusted gross income used for Roth IRA eligibility doesn't include adjustments for traditional IRA contributions or several other common adjustments, such as student loan interest.
2025 Roth IRA contributions are capped at $7,000 per person. But if you earn above certain levels (based on your tax-filing status), that amount may be reduced to as little as $0. The table below shows how the IRS phases out eligible contributions.
| Filing Status | Phaseout Lower Limit | Phaseout Upper Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Married filing jointly | $236,000 | $246,000 |
| Single or head of household | $150,000 | $165,000 |
| Married filing separately* | $0 | $10,000 |
*If you didn't live with your spouse at any time in 2025, you're eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA based on the income limits for Single or Head of Household filers.
Data source: Internal Revenue Service.
If you earn between the phaseout limits, your ability to contribute to a Roth IRA will be reduced relative to how far above the lower limit you are relative to the upper limit. For example, a married couple with a modified adjusted gross income of $241,000 is exactly halfway between the upper and lower limit. Therefore, each person in the couple is only eligible to contribute 50% of the Roth IRA contribution limit for 2025.
Those earning above the phaseout limit may be able to use a method called the backdoor Roth IRA. You first contribute a nondeductible contribution to a traditional IRA. Note, anyone who doesn't qualify to contribute directly to a Roth IRA also isn't eligible for a traditional IRA deduction. Once the funds are in a traditional IRA, you can perform a rollover to a Roth IRA.
Note, if you already have pre-tax funds in an IRA of any type (including a SEP IRA or SIMPLE IRA), it will create a taxable event when you rollover funds to a Roth. So, a backdoor Roth might not be worth pursuing in that case.
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