IRA Contribution

Finding How Much of a Traditional IRA Contribution Is Deductible

A Traditional IRA contribution is never capped by income, but the tax deduction for it can be — and only if you or your spouse are covered by a workplace retirement plan. Enter your Modified AGI, filing status, and workplace-plan coverage, and this calculator finds how much of your contribution is actually deductible this year.

This answers a different question from the Roth IRA Contribution Limit Calculator calculator, which models eligibility for a Roth IRA — a Roth contribution phases out entirely above certain income levels, but a Traditional IRA contribution never does. What changes with income is only whether that Traditional contribution gets you a tax deduction.

The Formula

1. Coverage determines whether a phase-out applies at all. If neither you nor your spouse is covered by a workplace retirement plan (a 401(k), pension, 403(b), etc.), your full contribution is deductible no matter your income — there’s no range to check.
2. If you’re covered yourself, the deduction phases out over a MAGI range that depends on your filing status. If you aren’t covered but your spouse is, a much higher range applies instead — your own coverage always takes precedence if both apply.
3. Inside the applicable range, the deductible amount shrinks proportionally as income rises, then rounds UP to the next $10 — with a $200 floor guaranteed to anyone still inside the range, both real IRS rounding rules applied exactly as written.
4. The final deductible amount is also capped at whatever you actually plan to contribute — deducting more than you contributed isn’t possible.

Worked Example

$86,000 Modified AGI, filing single, covered by a workplace plan, contributing $7,500, with the self-covered single/head-of-household phase-out range of $81,000 to $91,000:

1. Since $86,000 falls inside the phase-out range, the deductible cap shrinks proportionally: (91,000 − 86,000) ÷ (91,000 − 81,000) = 50% of the full contribution limit.
2. $7,500 × 50% = $3,750, already a multiple of $10, so no rounding is needed.
3. The deductible amount is the smaller of that $3,750 cap and the $7,500 actually contributed — so $3,750 of the contribution is deductible, and the remaining $3,750 goes in as a non-deductible contribution.

Key Factors to Consider

• A non-deductible Traditional IRA contribution is exactly what enables a “backdoor Roth” strategy. Someone whose income is too high to deduct a Traditional IRA contribution (or too high to contribute to a Roth directly) can still contribute non-deductibly and then convert to a Roth — see the Backdoor Roth Calculator for the pro-rata rule that determines how much of that conversion is actually tax-free.
• The MAGI used for this phase-out isn’t identical to your simple adjusted gross income. Modified AGI adds back certain deductions (like student loan interest or foreign earned income exclusions) to your regular AGI — most filers’ MAGI matches their AGI closely, but check the actual IRS definition if you have any of these specific adjustments.
• Contribution limits and phase-out ranges are both indexed for inflation and adjusted periodically. Both figures this calculator uses as inputs typically change from year to year — always verify the current year’s actual IRS-published numbers before finalizing a real contribution decision.
• This calculator handles one Traditional IRA contribution in isolation, not a household’s full retirement contribution picture. If you’re also contributing to a workplace 401(k), a Roth IRA, or another IRA in the same year, the full picture of your overall retirement savings strategy involves more than this single calculation.

Common Mistakes

• Assuming a high income blocks the contribution itself. It doesn’t — only the deduction is ever affected. Anyone with earned income can put money into a Traditional IRA regardless of how much they make.
• Forgetting that a spouse’s coverage matters even if you personally have none. A much higher income range applies in that case, but it’s a real range, not unlimited — a high-earning household where only one spouse has workplace coverage can still lose some or all of the deduction for the uncovered spouse.
• Losing track of a non-deductible contribution. The portion that isn’t deductible still goes into the IRA and still needs to be reported on IRS Form 8606 — skipping that form risks being taxed twice on the same money when it’s eventually withdrawn.

Useful to Know

• Wondering whether you could contribute to a Roth IRA directly instead of a Traditional one? The Roth IRA Contribution Limit Calculator calculator checks Roth eligibility against its own separate income phase-out.
• Made a non-deductible contribution and considering converting it to a Roth? The Backdoor Roth Calculator applies the pro-rata rule that determines how much of that conversion is actually tax-free.
• Want to project how a Traditional IRA balance grows over time, deductible or not? The Retirement / 401(k) Savings Calculator calculator models long-term growth from regular contributions.