Excess Roth IRA Contribution Calculator

Enter a known excess (recommended) or estimate one from MAGI and contributions, then add IRA values for the computation period. The result is an educational estimate of net income attributable and, if you missed a timely correction, a 6% Form 5329 tax range.

For the correction paths, worksheets, and worked examples, read How to fix an excess Roth IRA contribution.

What this calculator estimates

An excess Roth IRA contribution is money that went into a Roth IRA above the amount the Code allows for that year. The usual causes are contributing more than the annual dollar cap, contributing without enough taxable compensation, ignoring the MAGI phase-out, or stacking a Roth contribution on top of a traditional IRA contribution that already used the shared cap.

This tool estimates four numbers:

1. The permitted Roth contribution after MAGI, compensation, age, and traditional IRA contributions (when you use estimate mode).
2. The excess — either the amount you enter or the estimated leftover.
3. Net income attributable (NIA) to that excess, which can be a gain or a loss.
4. A 6% IRC §4973 / Form 5329 tax estimate if the excess is still in the account after the applicable filing due date.

It does not file Form 5329, tell a custodian how to code Form 1099-R, decide whether an extension or amended return is timely, or compute multi-year carryforwards with certainty.

2026 contribution and income limits

The calculator’s default year is 2026, using IRS Notice 2025-67 published in IRB 2025-49:

• Regular IRA contribution limit: $7,500
• Age-50 catch-up: $1,100 (combined cap $8,600)
• Roth MAGI phase-out, single / head of household: $153,000–$168,000
• Roth MAGI phase-out, married filing jointly / qualifying surviving spouse: $242,000–$252,000
• Roth MAGI phase-out, married filing separately and lived with spouse: $0–$10,000

Married filing separately and living apart the entire year is treated like single for this phase-out. At MAGI equal to or above the top of the range, the direct Roth limit is $0. You can still use a backdoor Roth in many cases; that is a different transaction and does not erase a direct excess that already happened.

Roth MAGI is not the same as ACA MAGI or Saver's Match MAGI. Start with the MAGI calculator and What is MAGI, then use the IRA-specific add-backs.

The annual cap is shared. A $4,000 traditional IRA contribution in 2026 leaves at most $3,500 of Roth room under age 50, even if MAGI is low. Taxable compensation is another ceiling: if you earned $3,000, you cannot make a $7,500 Roth contribution.

Two ways to enter the excess

Known excess (default). Use this when the custodian, a Form 5498, or a tax professional already computed the excess, or when the year includes spousal IRA rules, employer-plan coverage twists, or other facts this form does not model. Unusual situations still need the official worksheet.

Estimate from MAGI. The tool takes the age-based IRA cap, reduces it for Roth MAGI, caps it at compensation, then subtracts traditional IRA contributions. Estimated excess is Roth contributions minus that permitted amount, not below zero.

If the two methods disagree, trust the known amount and the worksheet — not the estimate.

How net income attributable is computed

The IRS allocates earnings or loss to the excess over a computation period that starts immediately before the excess contribution and ends immediately before it is removed. The method used here follows the Employee Plans CPE explanation “Determining the Amount of Excess Contributions & Allocating Earnings to Them”:

adjustedOpeningBalance =
  FMV immediately before the contribution
  + the excess contribution
  + other contributions and transfers in during the period

adjustedClosingBalance =
  FMV immediately before removal
  + distributions and transfers out during the period

NIA = excess × (adjustedClosingBalance − adjustedOpeningBalance) / adjustedOpeningBalance

NIA may be negative. The corrective distribution is:

correctionDistribution = max(0, excess + NIA)

Gain example. FMV before the contribution $10,000, excess $2,000, FMV before removal $13,200, no other flows. Adjusted opening is $12,000. NIA is $200. Removal is $2,200.

Loss example. Same opening and excess, FMV before removal $10,800. NIA is −$200. Removal is $1,800.

If adjusted opening balance is zero, the formula divides by zero. The calculator blocks that case instead of inventing a rate of return.

Do not count the corrective distribution itself as a “distribution out.” Do not re-enter the excess in “other contributions in.” Other transfers in during the same window (a rollover that landed after the excess, for example) do belong in that field.

Returned earnings are generally taxable even though Roth contributions were made with after-tax money; they are income for the year you made the excess contribution. They are not subject to the 10% additional tax on early distributions, whatever your age: SECURE 2.0 added an exception in IRC §72(t)(2)(K) for corrective distributions of excess IRA contributions and their earnings made by the return due date (including extensions), effective for distributions on or after December 29, 2022, as Publication 590-A notes. The exception does not cover a regular withdrawal or an excess left in past the deadline. This tool does not compute the income tax on the earnings.

The 6% tax if you miss the deadline

If the excess is still in the Roth IRA after the applicable due date of the return, IRC §4973 charges 6% of the excess remaining, not to exceed 6% of the account’s December 31 value.

• Uncorrected excess $2,000, year-end value $13,200 → estimate $120
• Uncorrected excess $2,000, year-end value $1,000 → estimate $60

The tax can repeat each year the excess remains. This calculator does not project later years, apply unused-limit carryforward with certainty, or decide whether an extension or an amended return still counts as a timely withdrawal. Treat the 6% figure as a labeled estimate.

Report the tax on Form 5329 when it actually applies. The form is not generated here.

Correction paths this tool does not choose for you

Three common approaches, described more fully in the guide:

1. Return of excess plus NIA by the applicable due date — usually the cleanest way to avoid the 6% tax.
2. Apply the excess to a later year if you have unused limit and the contribution is still eligible — paperwork-heavy; do not assume this calculator applied it.
3. Leave it and pay 6% until you withdraw or absorb it — a last resort.

A Roth conversion of other traditional IRA money is not a return of excess. A backdoor Roth done after a disallowed direct Roth contribution does not recharacterize that direct contribution.

How to use the result

• If NIA is a gain, expect to withdraw more than the excess and to pick up taxable earnings.
• If NIA is a loss, expect to withdraw less than the excess. You cannot withdraw a negative amount.
• If MAGI is at or above the 2026 top of the phase-out, direct Roth room is zero. Any direct Roth contribution is excess unless a worksheet says otherwise.
• Call the custodian and ask for a return of excess contribution for the tax year shown in the results, not a generic distribution.
• Keep contribution date, correction date, and year-end value with your return. This page does not store them.

For broader Roth and IRA planning, use the retirement planning hub.

Informational use only

This calculator is for education. Limits, MAGI, NIA, and the 6% tax depend on facts, account statements, and IRS worksheets. It is not tax advice, a prepared Form 5329, or a custodian instruction. Confirm with Publication 590-A, Notice 2025-67, the NIA method linked above, and a tax professional.

What this calculator will not decide

It will not tell you that an October 15 date is “good enough,” that an amended return still counts, or that a custodian’s Form 1099-R code is correct. It will not allocate excess across several Roth IRAs you own, apply the spousal-IRA compensation rule, or net a SEP or SIMPLE contribution against the regular IRA cap. If any of those apply, enter a known excess from the official worksheet instead of estimate mode.

It also will not compute the income tax on distributed NIA, which depends on your other income. (A timely corrective distribution owes no 10% additional tax.) For regular withdrawals that are not corrective distributions, use the IRA withdrawal tax calculator as a separate estimate.

If MAGI is the reason you have no direct Roth room, a backdoor Roth may still be available going forward. It does not remove a direct contribution that already posted. A Roth conversion of traditional balances is a different election with its own tax.

Deadline and custodian warning

The computation period and the filing due date are not the same clock. NIA uses account values between the contribution and the removal. The 6% tax uses whether the excess was still in the Roth IRA after the applicable return due date. This tool lets you toggle timely vs. not timely; it does not look up IRS holidays, state conformity, or your extension. When in doubt, treat the 6% box as a stress test, not a yes/no legal answer.

Ask the custodian for a return of excess contribution for the tax year printed in the results. Keep the request in writing. A website estimate is not that request.

Related: How to fix an excess Roth IRA contribution | MAGI calculator | What is MAGI | Backdoor Roth calculator | Roth conversion calculator | IRA withdrawal tax calculator | Retirement planning hub