What is a backdoor Roth IRA?

A two-step workaround when MAGI is too high for a direct Roth IRA contribution: you make a nondeductible contribution to a traditional IRA, then convert that amount to a Roth IRA. There is no income limit on Roth conversions.

What are the 2026 Roth IRA income limits?

For 2026, direct Roth IRA contributions phase out between MAGI $153,000 and $168,000 for single / head of household, and between $242,000 and $252,000 for married filing jointly. The IRA contribution limit is $7,500, or $8,600 if age 50 or older. Above the top of the band, a direct Roth contribution is $0 — that is when people look at the backdoor.

Is a backdoor Roth still legal in 2026?

Yes. No enacted law has banned nondeductible traditional IRA contributions or Roth conversions. You report both on Form 8606. Congress has proposed limits in the past; until a bill is signed, the mechanics are unchanged.

What is the pro-rata rule?

The IRS aggregates every traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRA you own (not 401(k)s) when you convert. The taxable share of a conversion is pre-tax IRA dollars divided by the total of all IRA dollars. A $7,500 after-tax contribution sitting next to a $92,500 pre-tax IRA is not a $0 tax conversion — it is 92.5% taxable.

How do I avoid the pro-rata tax?

Roll or reverse-roll existing pre-tax IRA, SEP, and SIMPLE balances into a current 401(k) that accepts incoming IRAs, then convert only the new after-tax IRA. Confirm the plan accepts rollovers before you contribute. Leaving a stray IRA at an old broker is the usual way a clean backdoor becomes a tax surprise.

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Retirement · Taxes

Backdoor Roth IRA in 2026: when MAGI shuts the front door

A Roth IRA has an income ceiling. A Roth conversion does not. The backdoor is just those two facts in sequence: put after-tax money in a traditional IRA, then convert it. The IRS is fine with that. The IRS is not fine with pretending you have no other IRAs.

Updated 2026-09-08 · 10 min read · Educational, not tax advice. Run the backdoor Roth calculator with your MAGI and IRA balances.

First: do you even need the backdoor?

If your MAGI is under the 2026 phase-out, contribute directly to a Roth IRA. The backdoor adds a Form 8606, a conversion step, and a way to mess up basis. Direct is cleaner. The backdoor is for people the phase-out already locked out — or for the slice of a partial phase-out you cannot put in the front door.

Filing status	Full Roth	Phase-out	No direct Roth
Single / HoH	MAGI under $153,000	$153,000–$168,000	$168,000+
Married filing jointly	Under $242,000	$242,000–$252,000	$252,000+
Married filing separately*	—	$0–$10,000	$10,000+

*If you lived with your spouse at any time during the year. IRA limit for 2026 is $7,500 ($8,600 at age 50+). Combined across traditional and Roth. IRS Notice 2025-67.

Workplace first

Roth 401(k) has no MAGI cap

2026 elective deferral is $24,500 ($32,500 at 50+). If the plan offers Roth, fill that before you invent an IRA workaround.

Order

Match, then HSA, then IRA

Never skip the 401(k) match. The IRA is not the first dollar. See 401(k) vs IRA vs Roth.

The two steps, without folklore

1. Nondeductible traditional IRA contribution. Same $7,500 / $8,600 ceiling. You need earned income. You do not deduct it. That creates “basis” — after-tax money the IRS should not tax again.

2. Convert to a Roth IRA. Custodians call this a Roth conversion. If the traditional IRA holds only that after-tax cash (and maybe a few dollars of interest), the conversion is nearly tax-free. Growth between contribution and conversion is taxable — which is why people convert promptly, not next December.

3. File Form 8606 with the tax return for that year. Part I tracks the nondeductible contribution. Part II tracks the conversion. Skip the form and the IRS treats the whole conversion as pre-tax. That is an expensive memory lapse.

The pro-rata rule is the whole game

The IRS does not let you convert “just the after-tax slice.” On December 31 of the conversion year it looks at all of your traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs as one pile. 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and the federal TSP are not in that pile.

Taxable fraction = pre-tax IRA dollars ÷ (pre-tax + after-tax basis, including the new contribution). Convert $7,500 with $70,000 of old rollover IRA sitting next to it and most of the $7,500 is taxable ordinary income. That is not a backdoor. That is a regular Roth conversion with extra steps.

The usual clean-up: roll the pre-tax IRA into a current 401(k) that accepts incoming rollovers. Then the IRA pile is only the new after-tax contribution. Confirm the plan’s rollover desk before you contribute. A plan that does not take IRAs leaves you stuck with pro-rata or with a taxable conversion you did not budget.

What the backdoor is not

Not a mega backdoor. The mega is after-tax 401(k) contributions plus an in-plan Roth conversion or rollover, up to the 415(c) cap ($72,000 in 2026, before catch-up). Different form, different employer. See the mega backdoor guide and calculator if the plan actually allows after-tax employee money.
Not a way around the IRA dollar limit. You still cannot put $20,000 into IRAs. $7,500 is $7,500.
Not tax-free if you deduct the contribution. If MAGI also lets you deduct a traditional IRA, deducting and then converting is just a conversion of pre-tax money. The backdoor only works as advertised when the contribution is nondeductible.
Not a step-transaction that the IRS has banned. Contribute and convert in the same week is normal. The reporting is Form 8606, not a waiting period.

When to skip it

If you cannot empty pre-tax IRAs into a 401(k), running the backdoor anyway just creates a partially taxable conversion and a basis tracking headache. Either convert on purpose (and pay the tax from cash, not from the IRA) or skip the IRA this year and max the Roth 401(k). A leftover $4,000 SEP from a 2019 side hustle is enough to poison the math — find it.

Spouses are separate IRA piles. A backdoor for one spouse does not drag in the other spouse’s IRA, but a joint return still has one MAGI. Married filing separately is usually a Roth dead end ($0–$10,000 phase-out).

Related decisions

Conversions in a low-income year are a different tool — Roth conversion basics and the IRMAA two-year lookback on IRMAA. Catch-up at 50+ is here. If you are leaving a job with a pre-tax 401(k), do not dump it into an IRA if you still want a clean backdoor — that is the rollover conflict.

Free tool

Backdoor Roth calculator

2026 MAGI phase-out, remaining room, pro-rata tax on the conversion.

Mega backdoor Roth

After-tax 401(k) room under $72,000 — only if the plan has both features.

Not tax, legal, or investment advice. Confirm Notice 2025-67 limits and Form 8606 instructions. Premium restore: /account.