Can a Spouse Contribute to an IRA? Limits, Deadlines, and Deductions

Yes, a spouse can contribute to an IRA even with little or no earned income of their own, as long as the couple is legally married, files a joint federal tax return, and the working spouse earns at least as much as the combined contributions. For 2026, each spouse can put up to $7,500 into their own IRA, or $8,600 if age 50 or older.¹ This setup is called the Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA, and it treats the couple as a single economic unit so a non-earning partner isn’t shut out of tax-advantaged retirement savings.

Who Qualifies

Two conditions control eligibility. The couple must be legally married, and they must file jointly for the year of the contribution. The working spouse’s taxable compensation caps the household total: contributions across both IRAs cannot exceed the couple’s combined earned income for the year.²

If one spouse earns $80,000 and the other earns nothing, the couple can still fund each IRA to the full $7,500. If household income is only $12,000, total contributions across both accounts are capped at $12,000. Simple math, but easy to miss when income is tight.

What Counts as Earned Income

For IRA purposes, compensation means wages, salaries, tips, commissions, self-employment income, and nontaxable combat pay. Taxable alimony received under divorce agreements executed on or before December 31, 2018, also counts. Passive income does not: rental income, interest, dividends, pension payments, and Social Security benefits are all excluded.³

How Much Each Spouse Can Contribute in 2026

The IRS adjusts IRA limits for inflation. For 2026:

Standard limit of $7,500 per person
Additional $1,100 catch-up for anyone 50 or older, bringing their limit to $8,600

Each spouse has their own separate limit. A couple where both partners are 50 or older could contribute a combined $17,200, assuming the working spouse earns at least that much.¹

One point of confusion worth clearing up: the enhanced catch-up contribution for people ages 60 through 63 under the SECURE 2.0 Act applies only to employer-sponsored plans like 401(k)s. It does not raise IRA catch-up limits.⁴

Traditional or Roth for the Non-Earning Spouse

A spousal IRA isn’t a distinct account type. It’s a standard Traditional or Roth IRA opened in the non-working spouse’s name. Which one to pick comes down to timing and income.

A Traditional IRA gives a tax deduction now (if you qualify) and taxes the money when you withdraw it. A Roth offers no upfront deduction but lets qualified withdrawals come out tax-free later. A non-working spouse with decades until retirement, or who expects to be in a higher bracket later, often does better with a Roth. Someone closer to retirement who benefits from the immediate deduction may prefer Traditional.

Traditional IRA Deduction Phase-Outs

You can always contribute to a Traditional IRA regardless of income. Whether you can deduct it depends on workplace-plan coverage. If neither spouse is covered by an employer plan, the full deduction is available at any income. When a workplace plan is in the picture, deduction limits apply based on modified adjusted gross income:

If the working spouse is covered by a workplace plan, their own deduction phases out between $129,000 and $149,000 MAGI for joint filers.
If the non-working spouse is not covered but the earning spouse is, the non-working spouse’s deduction phases out between $242,000 and $252,000 MAGI.

Those are 2026 figures.⁵ Inside the range the deduction shrinks proportionally; above it, the contribution can still be made on an after-tax basis.

Roth IRA Income Limits

Roth IRAs work differently. High earners get shut out of contributing directly. For joint filers in 2026, Roth contributions phase out between $242,000 and $252,000 MAGI. Above $252,000, direct Roth contributions are off the table.¹

Contribution Deadline

IRA contributions for a tax year are due by the federal income tax filing deadline of the following year. A 2026 contribution can be made any time through April 15, 2027. A filing extension does not extend the IRA deadline.²

If you deposit money in early 2027 that you intend as a 2026 contribution, tell your brokerage which tax year it applies to. Most platforms ask during the transfer. Get it wrong and you can end up with an excess contribution for the wrong year.

Opening and Funding the Account

The account goes in the non-working spouse’s name. They are the sole owner and control investments and beneficiaries. Opening one requires their Social Security number, date of birth, and address. Most major brokerages take about 15 minutes online. Linking a bank account through electronic funds transfer usually takes one to three business days to verify.

Once linked, you can make a lump-sum deposit or set up recurring transfers. The brokerage reports the contribution to the IRS on Form 5498, which arrives the following year as the official record.⁶

One trap: funding is not investing. Cash sitting in an IRA earns almost nothing. After the deposit posts, pick actual investments. Most brokerages offer mutual funds, ETFs, individual stocks and bonds, and target-date funds, which shift from stock-heavy to bond-heavy as the retirement date approaches.⁷

Withdrawal Rules

Withdrawals from a Traditional IRA before age 59½ generally face a 10% early distribution penalty on top of regular income tax.⁸ Exceptions that waive the penalty include a first-time home purchase (up to $10,000 lifetime), qualified higher education expenses, unreimbursed medical expenses over 7.5% of AGI, birth or adoption expenses (up to $5,000 per child), total and permanent disability, and domestic abuse victim distributions (up to the lesser of $10,000 or 50% of the account). Regular income tax still applies to deductible amounts even when the penalty is waived.

Starting at age 73, the IRS requires annual required minimum distributions from Traditional IRAs. The first RMD is due by April 1 of the year after you turn 73, and subsequent ones by December 31 each year.⁹

Roth IRAs are more flexible. You can withdraw your original contributions at any time without tax or penalty. Earnings are different: to withdraw them tax-free and penalty-free, you must be at least 59½ (or qualify for another exception) and at least five tax years must have passed since your first Roth contribution.¹⁰ The five-year clock starts January 1 of the tax year of the first contribution to any Roth IRA. A non-working spouse who opens a new Roth in 2026 satisfies the five-year rule on January 1, 2031. Roth IRAs also have no required minimum distributions during the owner’s lifetime.

Fixing an Excess Contribution

Contributing more than the limit, or contributing to a Roth when income exceeds the phase-out, creates an excess contribution. The IRS charges a 6% excise tax on the excess for every year it stays in the account.²

To avoid the penalty, withdraw the excess plus any earnings on it by the due date of your return, including extensions. For a 2026 excess, that generally means October 15, 2027, if you extended. If you already filed without correcting it, you can still remove it within six months of the original due date by filing an amended return with “Filed pursuant to section 301.9100-2” written at the top.³ The withdrawn earnings are taxable in the year of the excess contribution, but the excess itself is not taxed again if it was never deducted.

What Happens at Divorce

Spousal IRA eligibility ends the year you’re no longer married and filing jointly. IRA assets can be transferred between spouses tax-free through a trustee-to-trustee transfer under a divorce decree, and once complete, the receiving spouse owns the account and owes any future tax on withdrawals.¹¹ The mistake to avoid: pulling money out of your own IRA to pay an ex-spouse directly. That withdrawal is taxable income to you, and if you’re under 59½, it triggers the 10% early withdrawal penalty on top of regular tax.

1
Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
2
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – IRA Contribution Limits
3
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-A (2025), Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)
4
Internal Revenue Service. Treasury, IRS Issue Final Regulations on New Roth Catch-Up Rule, Other SECURE 2.0 Act Provisions
5
Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs, as Adjusted
6
Internal Revenue Service. Form 5498, IRA Contribution Information
7
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mutual Funds and Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)
8
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Exceptions to Tax on Early Distributions
9
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs
10
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)
11
Internal Revenue Service. Filing Taxes After Divorce or Separation