How do I report my excess contributions to my IRA?

Your total contributions to all Traditional and Roth IRAs cannot exceed:

For tax year 2026:

• $7,500, or
• $8,600 if you are age 50 or older, or
• if less, your taxable compensation for the year.

For tax years 2024 and 2025:

• $7,000, or
• $8,000 if you are age 50 or older.

For tax year 2023:

• $6,500, or 
• $7,500 if age 50 or older.

For tax years 2022 and 2021:

• $6,000, or 
• $7,000 if age 50 or older.

What if I contribute more than the maximum amount?

If you contribute more than the allowed limit for the current tax year or had an excess amount on line 17 or line 24 of your prior year Form 5329 you may owe an additional tax.

What is the excess contribution penalty?

• A 6% penalty tax applies to excess IRA contributions.
• The penalty is charged each year the excess remains in your IRA.
• The total penalty is capped at 6% of the combined value of all your IRAs at the end of the tax year.

How do I report my excess contributions to a Traditional IRA?

Complete Part III of Form 5329 if those excess contributions were to a Traditional IRA. To complete this form and calculate your additional tax go to:

• Federal Section
• Other Taxes
• Additional Taxes on Qualified Plans and Other Accounts
• Complete Part III

Excess contributions from Line 16 of your prior year Form 5329: If you had excess contributions in the prior year, enter that amount.

Contribution credit: Enter the difference, if any, of your contribution limit for traditional and Roth IRAs less your contributions to traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs for the current tax year.

Current Year Traditional IRA Distribution included in income: Enter any withdrawals from your traditional IRAs that are included in your income. Do not include any withdrawn contributions reported in the next box.

Current Year Distributions of prior year excess contributions: Enter any amount of previous year’s excess IRA contributions that you had returned in the current tax year. See line 12 instructions for information regarding returning of 2023 excess contributions.

Excess contributions for Current Year: Enter the excess of your contributions to traditional IRAs for the current tax year (unless withdrawn) over your contribution limit for traditional IRAs.

Do Roth IRA contribution limits depend on my income?

Yes. The annual IRA contribution limit is based on your total taxable compensation for the year. 

The phase-out range is where your ability to contribute to a Roth IRA is gradually reduced:

• Below the range: You can contribute the full amount
• Within the range: You can contribute a reduced amount
• Above the range: You can’t contribute directly to a Roth IRA

How do I report my excess contributions to a ROTH IRA?

Complete Part III of Form 5329 if those excess contributions were to a Roth IRA. To complete this form and calculate your additional tax go to:

• Federal Section
• Other Taxes
• Additional Taxes on Qualified Plans and Other Accounts

Excess contributions from Line 24 of your prior year Form 5329: If you had excess contributions in the prior year, enter that amount.

Contribution credit: Enter the difference, if any, of your contribution limit for traditional and Roth IRAs less your contributions to traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs for the current tax year.

Current Year Distributions from your Roth IRAs: Generally, enter the amount from Form 8606, line 19, plus any qualified distributions. But if you withdrew the entire balance of all of your Roth IRAs, don’t enter less than the amount on last year’s Form 5329, line 24.

Excess contributions for current year: Enter the excess of your contributions to Roth IRAs for the current tax year (unless withdrawn by deadline) over your contribution limit for Roth IRAs.

What if I withdrew my excess IRA contributions by the deadline?

If you withdrew your excess contributions by the tax filing deadline, please see our article on the subject.

Additional Information

To learn about Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI), review our article here. 
IRS Contribution Limits