For the 2026 tax year, the 402(g) deferral limit caps your total elective salary deferrals into employer-sponsored retirement plans at $24,500.1Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Contributions The limit belongs to you, not to any one plan, and going over it without a timely correction leads to being taxed twice on the same dollars.
What the 2026 Limit Actually Covers
The $24,500 ceiling applies per person across every qualifying plan you contribute to during the year.2Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs, as Adjusted for Changes in Cost-of-Living Pre-tax deferrals and designated Roth contributions both count against the same number; splitting your contributions between the two doesn’t buy you extra room.
The plans whose elective deferrals get combined are:
- 401(k) plans
- 403(b) tax-sheltered annuities
- SARSEP plans
- SIMPLE IRA and SIMPLE 401(k) plans
If you contribute to a 401(k) at two unrelated employers, your combined deferrals still cannot exceed $24,500.3Internal Revenue Service. How Much Salary Can You Defer if Youre Eligible for More Than One Retirement Plan Neither payroll department sees the other, so tracking the running total is on you. This is the most common way people accidentally over-contribute, usually after a mid-year job change.
SIMPLE plan salary reduction contributions do get aggregated under 402(g),4eCFR. 26 CFR 1.402(g)-1 – Limitation on Exclusion for Elective Deferrals but a SIMPLE plan carries its own lower base deferral limit of $17,000 for 2026.5Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500 If a SIMPLE is your only retirement account, that lower figure is the one to watch.
Governmental 457(b) Plans Sit Outside the Aggregation
A governmental 457(b) plan has its own $24,500 deferral limit for 2026, and it is not combined with your 401(k) or 403(b) contributions for 402(g) purposes.3Internal Revenue Service. How Much Salary Can You Defer if Youre Eligible for More Than One Retirement Plan A public employee with access to both a 403(b) and a 457(b) can defer up to $24,500 into each, before any catch-up.2Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs, as Adjusted for Changes in Cost-of-Living
Catch-Up Contributions That Raise Your Ceiling
If you turn 50 or older by December 31, 2026, a separate catch-up allowance sits on top of the $24,500 base. For most 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b), and Thrift Savings Plan participants, the standard catch-up is $8,000 in 2026, bringing the total to $32,500.5Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500 The plan document has to permit catch-ups for you to use one.
Higher Catch-Up for Ages 60 Through 63
SECURE 2.0 created a larger catch-up for participants who turn 60, 61, 62, or 63 during the calendar year. For 2026, that figure is $11,250 instead of $8,000,2Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs, as Adjusted for Changes in Cost-of-Living which puts the total possible deferral at $35,750.5Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500 Once you turn 64, you drop back to the standard $8,000.
403(b) 15-Year Service Catch-Up
Certain 403(b) sponsors, such as schools, hospitals, churches, and health and welfare agencies, offer an additional catch-up to employees with at least 15 years of service with the same qualifying employer. Eligible participants may increase deferrals by up to $3,000 per year, subject to a $15,000 lifetime cap.6Internal Revenue Service. 403(b) Plans – Catch-Up Contributions This is separate from the age-based catch-up, so a long-tenured 403(b) participant in the 60-to-63 window can potentially use all three layers.
Roth Catch-Up Requirement Coming for Higher Earners
SECURE 2.0 also requires certain higher-paid employees to make all catch-up contributions as designated Roth rather than pre-tax. The rule applies to participants whose prior-year wages from the sponsoring employer exceeded $145,000, indexed for inflation. Under IRS final regulations, mandatory compliance generally applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026, so most plans will implement it in 2027.7Internal Revenue Service. Treasury, IRS Issue Final Regulations on New Roth Catch-Up Rule, Other SECURE 2.0 Act Provisions Plans may adopt it earlier under a reasonable, good faith reading of the statute. Governmental plans and collectively bargained plans may have a later applicability date. Participants below the wage threshold can still make pre-tax catch-up contributions.
How 402(g) Differs From the 415(c) Cap
The 402(g) limit only governs what you defer from your paycheck. Section 415(c) sets a separate ceiling on all contributions to your defined contribution account in a year, including employer match, profit sharing, and forfeitures.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 415 – Limitations on Benefits and Contribution Under Qualified Plans For 2026, the 415(c) figure is $72,000, or 100% of your compensation if lower.2Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs, as Adjusted for Changes in Cost-of-Living Age-50-and-over catch-up contributions do not count toward the 415(c) limit.
Fixing an Excess Deferral
Anything you defer above the 402(g) limit, plus any applicable catch-up, is an excess deferral and must be corrected.9Internal Revenue Service. Consequences to a Participant Who Makes Excess Annual Salary Deferrals Two deadlines control what happens next.
Notify the Plan by March 1
By March 1 of the following year, tell each plan holding an excess how much of it to allocate to that plan.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 402 – Taxability of Beneficiary of Employees Trust If you over-contributed across two employers, you choose which plan distributes the excess. Nothing has to be split proportionally.
Receive the Distribution by April 15
The plan must then distribute the excess, plus any earnings attributable to it, by April 15 of the year after the contribution year.11Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – What Happens When an Employee Has Elective Deferrals in Excess of the Limits Meet the deadline and the treatment is clean: the excess is included in gross income for the year you originally contributed it, and the earnings are taxed in the year they’re distributed.9Internal Revenue Service. Consequences to a Participant Who Makes Excess Annual Salary Deferrals The 10% early withdrawal penalty does not apply to a timely corrective distribution.
Missing the April 15 Deadline
If the excess stays in the plan past April 15, it gets taxed in the year you contributed it and taxed again when you eventually withdraw it in retirement.9Internal Revenue Service. Consequences to a Participant Who Makes Excess Annual Salary Deferrals There is no way to unwind the double taxation once the window closes.
Form 1099-R Reporting
The plan administrator reports the corrective distribution on Form 1099-R. Distribution Code 8 in Box 7 signals an excess taxable in the current year; Code P is used when the excess was taxable in a prior year. Code B may appear alongside 8 or P for a distribution from a designated Roth account.12Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 Keep the form with your tax records for the year the excess is reported.
2026 Numbers at a Glance
- Standard 402(g) deferral limit: $24,500
- Age 50+ catch-up: additional $8,000 (total $32,500)
- Ages 60–63 catch-up: additional $11,250 (total $35,750)
- Governmental 457(b): separate $24,500 limit, not aggregated with 401(k)/403(b)
- SIMPLE IRA/SIMPLE 401(k) base: $17,000
- SIMPLE age 50+ catch-up: additional $4,000
- SIMPLE ages 60–63 catch-up: additional $5,250
- 415(c) total annual addition limit: $72,000
All figures reflect IRS cost-of-living adjustments for the 2026 tax year.2Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs, as Adjusted for Changes in Cost-of-Living