A spousal IRA lets a married couple make IRA contributions for a spouse who earns little or no income, using the working spouse’s earnings to qualify. For 2026, each spouse can contribute up to $7,500, or $8,600 if age 50 or older, potentially setting aside $17,200 across both accounts.1Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500 The account belongs entirely to the non-working spouse. The couple must file a joint federal return to use this rule.
Who Qualifies
Three conditions have to line up. You must be legally married, you must file a joint federal tax return for the year, and the working spouse must have earned income at least equal to the combined contributions going into both IRAs.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 219 – Retirement Savings The non-working spouse can have zero earnings of their own.
Earned income means wages, salaries, self-employment income, professional fees, and bonuses. Dividends, interest, rental income, pension payments, and Social Security do not count. A couple living entirely on investment income cannot use a spousal IRA.3Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – IRA Contribution Limits
Nontaxable combat pay is one exception: it counts as earned income for IRA contribution purposes, so a military family with one spouse in a combat zone can still fund both accounts.4Internal Revenue Service. Miscellaneous Provisions – Combat Zone Service
Age is not a barrier. The SECURE Act removed the old cutoff that blocked traditional IRA contributions after age 70½, so an older non-working spouse can keep contributing as long as the working spouse’s earned income supports it.3Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – IRA Contribution Limits
How Much You Can Contribute in 2026
The base IRA contribution limit for 2026 is $7,500 per person. If you are 50 or older, you can add a $1,100 catch-up contribution, bringing your ceiling to $8,600.1Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500 Each person’s limit applies to their traditional and Roth IRA contributions combined.
The hard cap on the couple’s total is the working spouse’s earned income. If the earning spouse brings in $12,000 for the year, total contributions across both accounts cannot exceed $12,000, even though two full contributions would otherwise add up to $15,000. A couple with a $60,000 earner has no trouble maxing out both accounts.3Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – IRA Contribution Limits
Going over either the per-person cap or the earned income ceiling triggers a 6% excise tax on the excess for every year it stays in the account.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 4973 – Tax on Excess Contributions to Certain Tax-Favored Accounts and Annuities You can avoid the penalty by withdrawing the excess, along with any earnings on it, before your tax return due date including extensions.
When to Contribute By
Contributions for a given tax year can be made from January 1 of that year through the following April tax filing deadline. For the 2026 tax year, the window closes on April 15, 2027.6Internal Revenue Service. IRA Year-End Reminders
Filing a tax extension does not push the IRA deadline back. The extension buys time to file the return itself, but the prior-year contribution window still shuts on April 15. Miss it and the money has to go toward the next tax year instead, costing you a full year of tax-advantaged growth.
Traditional or Roth
A spousal IRA can be a traditional IRA, a Roth, or a split between the two, as long as the combined contribution stays within the per-person limit. The right choice depends on when you want the tax break.
A traditional spousal IRA can produce a deduction now, reducing this year’s taxable income; withdrawals in retirement are taxed as ordinary income. A Roth spousal IRA has no upfront deduction, but qualified withdrawals later come out entirely tax-free, contributions and earnings alike. If the non-working spouse expects a higher tax bracket in retirement or simply wants tax-free retirement income, the Roth is often the stronger pick. Couples who need to shave a high current tax bill may prefer the traditional route.
Income Limits That Affect the Tax Treatment
Whether you actually get the deduction on a traditional contribution, or can put money directly into a Roth, depends on household income and whether either spouse is covered by a workplace retirement plan.
Traditional IRA Deduction Phase-Out
If the non-working spouse is not covered by a workplace plan but the earning spouse is, the deduction for the spousal contribution phases out between $242,000 and $252,000 of modified adjusted gross income for 2026.7Internal Revenue Service. IRS Notice 2025-67 – 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs Above $252,000 there is no deduction; below $242,000 the full deduction is available.
When neither spouse is covered by an employer plan, the contribution is fully deductible at any income level. That makes the spousal IRA one of the few remaining ways for higher-earning couples without workplace plans to reduce taxable income through retirement savings.
Contributions made above the deduction phase-out are not lost. You can still make a non-deductible traditional IRA contribution, but you have to track the non-deductible basis on Form 8606 so the same dollars are not taxed again when you eventually withdraw them.8Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8606
Roth IRA Income Limit
For 2026, married couples filing jointly can make a full Roth contribution below $242,000 of MAGI. Contributions phase out between $242,000 and $252,000, and direct Roth contributions are unavailable above $252,000.7Internal Revenue Service. IRS Notice 2025-67 – 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs The same thresholds apply to a spousal Roth.
Backdoor Roth for Higher Earners
Couples above the Roth income limits can still route money into a spousal Roth in two steps. The non-working spouse makes a non-deductible contribution to a traditional IRA, then converts that balance to a Roth. Because the original contribution was after-tax, the conversion itself creates little or no additional tax, provided the non-working spouse has no other pre-tax IRA balances.
The pro-rata rule is where this gets tripped up. The IRS looks at all of the converting spouse’s traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRA balances together. If the non-working spouse holds $50,000 in a pre-tax traditional IRA from an old job and converts a $7,500 non-deductible contribution, the conversion is treated as coming proportionally from both pre-tax and after-tax dollars across every account.9Internal Revenue Service. Rollovers of After-Tax Contributions in Retirement Plans A significant slice of the conversion then becomes taxable.
The strategy works cleanly when the converting spouse has zero pre-tax IRA balances, which is often the case for a non-working spouse who has never had their own retirement accounts. Report the non-deductible contribution on Form 8606 and keep the conversion paperwork; the IRS wants to see both sides of the transaction.8Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8606
Whose Account It Is
A spousal IRA is not a distinct account type. It is a standard traditional or Roth IRA opened in the non-working spouse’s name alone.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 408 – Individual Retirement Accounts The IRS does not allow joint IRAs. The non-working spouse owns the account, controls the investments, and names the beneficiaries. Where the contribution money came from does not change ownership.
Opening the account takes the non-working spouse’s Social Security number and identification, and it must sit with a qualified custodian such as a bank or brokerage firm. Contributions go in by transfer or check into that individually registered account.
In a divorce, IRA assets can be transferred to a spouse or former spouse under a divorce or separation agreement without triggering taxes; the transferred portion becomes the receiving spouse’s own IRA going forward.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 408 – Individual Retirement Accounts This differs from employer plans, which split through qualified domestic relations orders. Make sure any divorce agreement specifically addresses each spouse’s IRA accounts.
Taking Money Out
A spousal IRA follows the same distribution rules as any other IRA, and the non-working spouse, as owner, decides when to take money out.
Withdrawals before age 59½ from a traditional IRA generally face a 10% additional tax on top of ordinary income tax.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 72 – Annuities; Certain Proceeds of Endowment and Life Insurance Contracts The 10% penalty is waived in several situations, including total and permanent disability, up to $10,000 for a first-time home purchase, qualified higher education expenses, unreimbursed medical costs above 7.5% of adjusted gross income, up to $5,000 for a birth or adoption, a series of substantially equal periodic payments based on life expectancy, and health insurance premiums after receiving unemployment compensation for at least 12 weeks. These exceptions remove the penalty but not the income tax on traditional IRA withdrawals. Roth contributions (as opposed to earnings) can be withdrawn at any time without tax or penalty since they went in after-tax.12Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Exceptions to Tax on Early Distributions
Traditional IRA owners must start required minimum distributions at age 73. The first RMD is due by April 1 of the year after the owner turns 73, and later RMDs are due by December 31 each year. Falling short of the required amount brings a 25% excise tax on the shortfall, dropping to 10% if corrected within two years.13Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) Roth IRAs have no lifetime RMDs for the owner, so a spousal Roth can keep growing tax-free for as long as the owner lives.