Traditional IRA Income Limits

Find out if you can contribute and if you make too much money for a tax deduction in 2023 and 2024.

By Motley Fool Retirement Team – Updated Nov 25, 2024 at 9:07 PM

Key Points

Traditional IRAs allow tax-free growth, with taxable withdrawals in retirement.
Deductible contributions to traditional IRAs have income limits if covered by a workplace plan.
Non-deductible contributions can still be made regardless of income, useful for backdoor Roth IRAs.

Traditional IRAs are tax-advantaged retirement savings accounts. Money invested in a traditional IRA can grow tax-free until you begin making withdrawals as a retiree. Withdrawals are taxed at your ordinary income tax rate.

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IRA tax deduction limit

Although there is no overall income limit for contributing to a traditional IRA, there are income limits on tax-deductible contributions.

In other words, if you want to claim a tax deduction equaling the amount of your contribution in the year you invest the funds in your traditional IRA, your income must be below a certain threshold. The table below shows the limit for making tax-deductible IRA contributions in 2024 and 2025 if you are covered by a workplace retirement plan such as a 401(k).

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Data source: IRS.

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If your spouse is covered by a plan at work, there is also a limit on the amount of tax-deductible contributions you're eligible to make to your traditional IRA each year. The table below shows the income limits when your spouse is covered by a retirement plan at work.

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