403(b) Contribution Limits: Catch-Ups, Roth Rule, and $72,000 Cap

The 403(b) contribution limits for 2026 start at $24,500 in salary deferrals, with total contributions from all sources capped at $72,000. Workers age 50 and older, employees aged 60 through 63, and long-tenured staff at qualifying employers can push their personal deferral ceiling considerably higher through catch-up provisions. A high earner subject to a new SECURE 2.0 rule may also find that any catch-up contributions have to go into a Roth account rather than pre-tax.

The Base Deferral Limit

You can contribute $24,500 from your paycheck to a 403(b) plan in 2026 under Section 402(g) of the Internal Revenue Code.¹ The figure covers pre-tax and Roth deferrals combined, whichever mix your plan allows.

This limit is yours, not your plan’s. If you contribute to a 403(b) at one employer and a 401(k) at another, the two accounts together still cannot exceed $24,500 in elective deferrals for the year. Each employer only sees what runs through its own payroll, so tracking the aggregate is on you when you work more than one job.

Contributions above the limit are called excess deferrals, and they need to come out of the account by April 15 of the following year. Miss that deadline and the same dollars get taxed twice: once in the contribution year and again on eventual withdrawal.²

Catch-Up Contributions

Three catch-ups can lift your ceiling above $24,500. Each has its own eligibility rules, and they can stack.

Age 50 and Older

If you turn 50 or older by December 31, 2026, you can defer an additional $8,000, bringing your personal limit to $32,500.¹

Ages 60 Through 63

SECURE 2.0 created a higher catch-up for participants who turn 60, 61, 62, or 63 during the year. In 2026, that amount is $11,250, and it replaces the standard $8,000 age 50 catch-up for those specific ages.³ A 62-year-old in 2026 can defer up to $35,750. Once you turn 64, you go back to the regular $8,000 catch-up.

15 Years of Service

A catch-up unique to 403(b) plans lets employees with at least 15 years of service at the same qualifying employer contribute up to $3,000 extra per year, subject to a $15,000 lifetime cap. These figures are set by statute and do not adjust for inflation.⁴ The qualifying employers are:

Public school systems
Hospitals
Home health service agencies
Health and welfare service agencies
Churches, or conventions or associations of churches

The actual annual amount available is the smallest of three figures: $3,000; $15,000 minus any 15-year catch-up you’ve used in prior years; or $5,000 times your years of service, minus all elective deferrals you’ve ever made to plans sponsored by that employer (excluding age 50 catch-up contributions).⁵ The third test surprises many people. A long-tenured employee who has been maxing out deferrals for years often finds that past contributions have used up most of the available space.

How the Catch-Ups Stack

When you qualify for more than one catch-up in the same year, the IRS applies the 15-year service catch-up first, then the age-based catch-up on top.²⁶ The ordering matters because the 15-year amount has a lifetime cap that needs accurate tracking.

Take a 62-year-old teacher with 20 years in the same district and room under the 15-year formula. In 2026, that person can contribute $24,500 in base deferrals, plus $3,000 from the 15-year catch-up, plus $11,250 from the enhanced age catch-up. Total elective deferrals: $38,750.

Mandatory Roth Catch-Up for High Earners

Beginning in 2026, SECURE 2.0 requires all catch-up contributions to be made as after-tax Roth contributions if your FICA-taxable wages from the plan’s sponsoring employer exceeded $150,000 the prior year. The IRS uses Box 3 of your prior-year W-2 (Social Security wages), not Box 5 (Medicare wages).⁶ Below that threshold, you can still split catch-ups between pre-tax and Roth however you want.

If your plan doesn’t offer a Roth option, a high earner subject to this rule can’t make catch-up contributions at all. The 15-year service catch-up follows the same ordering rule as before, so it comes first and isn’t subject to the Roth mandate. Only the age-based portion has to be designated Roth for affected participants.

For 2026, the IRS expects plans to make a “reasonable good faith effort” to comply. An accidental pre-tax catch-up by a high earner can be corrected through a corrective distribution, an amended W-2, or an in-plan Roth conversion.

The $72,000 Total Contributions Ceiling

Section 415(c) sets a broader ceiling on everything going into your 403(b) account, not just your deferrals. That cap includes your salary contributions, employer matching, non-elective employer contributions, and any after-tax employee contributions combined. For 2026, total annual additions cannot exceed the lesser of $72,000 or 100% of your includible compensation.¹

The two-part test matters most for lower-paid workers. Someone earning $55,000 cannot receive $72,000 in total additions, because the 100% compensation test caps them at $55,000. For higher earners, the dollar limit is usually what binds. Defer $24,500 and let your employer contribute $47,500, and you’ve hit $72,000 exactly.⁷

Catch-up contributions generally don’t count toward the 415(c) limit. A 62-year-old contributing $35,750 in elective deferrals is measured against the $72,000 ceiling using only the $24,500 base amount, leaving substantial room for employer contributions on top.

If your employer also maintains a 401(a) defined contribution plan, the 415(c) limit applies to the combined total across both plans.⁸

What Counts as Includible Compensation

The 100% test under Section 415(c) uses a specific definition of pay called “includible compensation.” For 403(b) purposes, this is the compensation you received from the sponsoring employer during your most recent period of service that counts as one year of work.⁹ That service period must end no later than the close of the current tax year and cannot look back more than five years.

The calculation adds back your elective deferrals and any amounts you redirected into a cafeteria plan or other pre-tax fringe benefits. Employer contributions to the 403(b) itself are excluded.⁸

Part-time workers face an added wrinkle. A part-time school aide working 20 hours per week may take two calendar years to accumulate enough hours to count as one “year of service” under the employer’s rules. The compensation for the 415(c) test then spans both calendar years, because that is what makes up a full service year.

If You Contribute Too Much

Mistakes fall into two categories with different fixes. Excess elective deferrals (amounts above $24,500 plus any applicable catch-up) must be distributed back to the participant by April 15 of the following year, and the returned amount plus earnings is taxable in the year of the original contribution.²

Excess annual additions (amounts above the 415(c) limit) are a plan-level problem. The sponsor has to correct them through the IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, which offers self-correction for small or recent errors, a voluntary correction program for issues found before an audit, and a formal process during an audit.¹⁰

For 403(b) custodial accounts specifically, any excess contributions left uncorrected trigger a 6% excise tax each year on the amount still in the account at year-end.¹¹ The tax recurs annually until the excess comes out, so the cost of ignoring it grows fast. Employers report 403(b) elective deferrals in Box 12 of Form W-2 using Code E, and a reporting error can cascade into limit miscalculations that look like excess contributions on paper.¹² If you work more than one job or received a raise mid-year that changed your deferral pace, checking that box against your own pay records before filing is worth the few minutes it takes.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Notice 2025-67 – 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs
2
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – 403(b) Contribution Limits
3
Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 402(g)(7) – Special Rule for Certain Organizations
5
Internal Revenue Service. 403(b) Plan Fix-It Guide – 15-Year Service Catch-Up
6
Federal Register. Catch-Up Contributions
7
Internal Revenue Service. Fixing Common Plan Mistakes – Failure to Limit Contributions for a Participant
8
Internal Revenue Service. Issue Snapshot – 403(b) Plan Application of IRC Section 415(c) When Aggregated With a Section 401(a) Defined Contribution Plan
9
Legal Information Institute. 26 USC 403(b)(3) – Includible Compensation
10
Internal Revenue Service. EPCRS Overview
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 4973 – Tax on Excess Contributions to Certain Tax-Favored Accounts and Annuities
12
Internal Revenue Service. Common Errors on Form W-2 Codes for Retirement Plans