What is the Roth IRA income limit for married filing jointly?

For a married couple filing jointly, the ability to contribute to a Roth IRA phases out based on modified adjusted gross income (MAGI). For 2025, a full contribution is allowed if joint MAGI is under $236,000, a reduced contribution applies from $236,000 up to $246,000, and no direct Roth contribution is allowed at $246,000 or more. For 2026, the range moves up: full contribution under $242,000, reduced from $242,000 to $252,000, and none at $252,000 or more. These figures come from the IRS annual cost-of-living adjustment (IRS Notice 2025-67, announced in IR-2025-111). The limit is on eligibility to contribute, not on the account itself.

How does the phase-out range actually work?

Inside the phase-out range, you can still contribute, just not the full amount. The allowed contribution steps down proportionally as MAGI rises from the bottom of the range to the top. A couple with 2025 MAGI of $241,000 sits halfway through the $236,000 to $246,000 band, so roughly half the normal limit is allowed. The IRS provides Worksheet 2-2 in Publication 590-A to compute the exact reduced figure, which rounds up to the next multiple of $10 and never goes below $200 until it hits zero. The point is that crossing the bottom of the range does not cut you off. It only starts shrinking what you can put in.

What is the actual contribution cap once you qualify?

The income limit decides whether you can contribute; a separate annual cap decides how much. For 2025, the Roth IRA contribution limit is $7,000, or $8,000 for someone age 50 or older with the $1,000 catch-up. For 2026, the base limit rises to $7,500, with a $1,100 catch-up bringing the age-50-plus figure to $8,600. That cap is per person, not per couple, so two spouses who each qualify can each contribute up to their own limit. Both spouses need enough combined earned income to cover the contributions, but only one spouse needs the earnings for a spousal Roth IRA to work.

Which income number counts, MAGI or gross pay?

The threshold uses modified adjusted gross income, not salary or total gross pay. MAGI for Roth purposes starts from adjusted gross income and adds back a short list of items such as the foreign earned income exclusion and certain deductions, while excluding any income from a Roth conversion done that year. For most joint filers with wage income and no foreign exclusions, MAGI lands close to their AGI, so the number on the bottom of the first page of the return is a reasonable first check. A preparer confirms it against the actual worksheet rather than eyeballing gross wages, because deductions like pre-tax retirement contributions pull the figure down and can move a couple back under the limit.

What can a couple over the limit do instead?

A couple whose MAGI exceeds the top of the range cannot make a direct Roth contribution for that year. Two common paths remain. They can contribute to a traditional IRA, which has no income cap on contributions themselves (only on deductibility), or they can use a nondeductible traditional IRA contribution followed by a conversion, the mechanism often called a backdoor Roth. The conversion route carries its own tax mechanics, including the pro-rata rule when other pre-tax IRA balances exist, so it is a spot where a preparer's review matters before the client acts. The direct contribution limit is a hard line; the alternatives are where the planning happens.

Where does this check belong in a firm's workflow?

Roth eligibility is a fast check that gets missed when a couple's income rises across a year or when a bonus pushes MAGI over the line late in December. A contribution made in good faith at the start of the year can become an excess contribution by the time the return is prepared, which triggers a 6% excise tax each year until it is corrected. Firms that flag Roth eligibility at intake, using the prior year's return and current income estimate, catch the couples who are near the range before an excess contribution happens rather than after. That is the difference between a planning note in January and a corrective distribution in April. See how SignalsHQ organizes client tax data so eligibility checks like this run as a standard step.