Roth IRA MAGI starts with your adjusted gross income (AGI). First identify any income from converting a non-Roth IRA or rolling a qualified retirement plan into a Roth IRA. Subtract only the taxable amount included in AGI, then add back the deductions and exclusions in the checklist below. If none of those adjustments apply, your Roth MAGI equals your AGI. Use that result to check direct Roth IRA contribution eligibility.
Start with AGI, not salary or taxable income
Modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is not one universal tax number: the adjustments depend on the rule you are checking. For direct Roth IRA contributions, begin with AGI from your federal return for the contribution year, even if you make the deposit the following spring. Take-home pay, W-2 wages alone and taxable income after the standard or itemized deduction are different numbers.
For example, a single filer with $160,000 in AGI cannot subtract the standard deduction to get below the Roth income band. That deduction comes after AGI. A taxable Roth conversion, by contrast, is an adjustment specifically allowed for this income test.
The checklist follows Worksheet 2-1 in IRS Publication 590-A (2025). The 2026 income bands come from a separate IRS notice; the publication’s 2025 bands are not the 2026 limits. Check the contribution year’s final worksheet before filing.
The Roth IRA MAGI adjustment checklist
Roth IRA MAGI = AGI − included taxable conversion/rollover income + applicable addbacks. An addback restores a deduction or exclusion for this income test. Enter the amount actually deducted or excluded, rather than the amount you paid or contributed.
Does your return include Social Security income, passive activity losses or other income or losses affected by AGI-based limits? If so, check the extra AGI step below before using this result.
| Return item | Treatment | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Adjusted gross income | Start here | Use AGI for the contribution year, before the standard or itemized deduction. |
| Non-Roth IRA conversion income and qualified-plan-to-Roth IRA rollover income | Subtract | Subtract the taxable income from these transactions included in AGI, not the full transferred balance. |
| Traditional IRA deduction | Add back | Use the deduction actually taken, not a nondeductible contribution. |
| Student loan interest deduction | Add back | Use the allowable deduction that reduced AGI, not all interest paid. |
| Foreign earned income and/or housing exclusion | Add back | Use the applicable excluded amount from the return. |
| Foreign housing deduction | Add back | Keep this separate from the housing exclusion above. |
| Qualified savings bond interest exclusion | Add back | Use the excluded qualifying interest, not the bond redemption proceeds. |
| Excluded employer-provided adoption benefits | Add back | Use the benefits excluded from income under the applicable return instructions. |
The conversion subtraction does not make the conversion tax-free. Withdrawing converted money later is a separate question covered by the Roth IRA five-year rules. It changes this eligibility calculation; it does not remove taxable income from your return or other AGI-based tests. A conversion also does not use the regular annual IRA contribution limit. The backdoor Roth rules guide explains that separate transaction and its tax issues. For an IRA conversion with nondeductible basis, work out the taxable conversion amount and remaining basis before entering the subtraction.
Roth IRA MAGI calculator
Use contribution-year AGI and the amounts actually deducted or excluded. Enter dollars; leave unused adjustments blank.
Next: use your confirmed MAGI in the Roth IRA contribution limits guide. MAGI alone is not your deposit limit.
JavaScript is off. Use the adjustment checklist and worked examples below.
Three examples: unchanged AGI, conversion and deduction
These are hypothetical 2026 examples for single filers under age 50 with at least $7,500 in taxable compensation. Assume each stated deduction is allowed, unlisted adjustments are zero and the extra AGI recalculation does not apply. Only example C includes another regular IRA contribution.
| Example | AGI | Subtract | Add back | Roth MAGI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A: no adjustments | $150,000 | $0 | $0 | $150,000 |
| B: taxable conversion | $180,000 | $30,000 | $0 | $150,000 |
| C: deductible IRA contribution | $150,000 | $0 | $6,000 | $156,000 |
A: nothing to adjust. Roth MAGI stays at $150,000, below the 2026 single-filer phaseout band. With the stated assumptions, the income test does not reduce the $7,500 annual limit.
B: conversion income raises AGI, but is removed from this test. The $180,000 AGI includes $30,000 of taxable traditional-to-Roth conversion income. Subtract it to get $150,000 of Roth MAGI. That leaves the same direct-contribution limit as A, even though the conversion still creates taxable income.
C: a traditional IRA deduction does not lower Roth MAGI. This filer has no workplace retirement plan and makes a deductible $6,000 traditional IRA contribution. AGI is $150,000 after that deduction; adding it back gives $156,000 of Roth MAGI, inside the single-filer phaseout band.
The remaining Roth room is $1,500 in this example. The 2026 single-filer income band starts at $153,000 and spans $15,000. Here is how the two limits interact:
- Income-based ceiling: $7,500 × [1 − ($156,000 − $153,000) ÷ $15,000] = $6,000.
- Unused annual IRA room: $7,500 − $6,000 already contributed to the traditional IRA = $1,500.
- Roth maximum: the smaller amount, $1,500.
No rounding adjustment is needed here. For other phaseout results, follow the IRS worksheet’s rounding and minimum rules.
What your result means under the 2026 income limits
Compare your Roth MAGI with the 2026 bands in IRS Notice 2025-67. Reaching the upper end means no direct regular contribution for that year; it does not prohibit a Roth conversion.
| Filing status | Phaseout band | No direct contribution at |
|---|---|---|
| Single or head of household | $153,000–$168,000 | $168,000 or more |
| Married filing jointly or qualifying surviving spouse | $242,000–$252,000 | $252,000 or more |
| Married filing separately; lived with spouse at any time in the year | Above $0 to below $10,000 | $10,000 or more |
| Married filing separately; lived apart all year | $153,000–$168,000 | $168,000 or more |
These bands describe the income test, not a guaranteed deposit amount. For married filing separately while living with a spouse, positive MAGI triggers a reduction; zero MAGI does not remove the separate compensation requirement.
Take your verified Roth MAGI, filing status and contribution year to the Roth IRA contribution limits guide. Age, taxable compensation and other regular IRA contributions also affect the allowed annual amount. The IRA contribution limits guide explains the shared annual ceiling. Compare the final allowed amount with Roth deposits already made for the year.
Recheck estimates before funding
If your return is not complete, treat the income figure as an estimate. Update the estimate when a bonus, investment gain or deduction changes. If you make a Roth conversion, update both AGI and the conversion subtraction; changing only one can distort the result.
If revised income reduces your allowed contribution below money already deposited, ask the custodian about an excess-contribution correction. An ordinary withdrawal is not necessarily the right corrective transaction. The IRS excess-contribution section gives the correction rules; use it with your tax facts rather than treating the MAGI worksheet as a correction tool.
Before you deposit, use your Roth IRA MAGI to check the contribution limit for your filing status and year. Compare that limit with what you have already contributed, including traditional IRA deposits. Keep the AGI calculation and supporting records together so you can update the result when your income changes.
Which checklist item changes your AGI for the Roth income test?
If a step is unclear, name the adjustment in a comment. Keep personal tax documents and identifying details private.
Revision history
- Calculation guide revision 2026-10-06 UPDATED
Clarified the contribution-year AGI input, completed the deduction example, tabulated 2026 income bands and separated the conditional AGI recalculation. Added an interactive MAGI reconciliation and calculation breakdown.