2026 SIMPLE IRA Contribution Limits
The official 2026 SIMPLE IRA and SIMPLE 401(k) elective deferral limits, the standard and SECURE 2.0 higher-employer schedules, and both catch-ups.
The 2026 SIMPLE IRA and SIMPLE 401(k) elective deferral limit is $17,000 ($21,000 at 50 or older). At an eligible small employer — 25 or fewer employees, or 26-100 electing the higher match — the limit rises to $18,100, and the ages-60-to-63 catch-up there brings the total to $23,350. In the years you turn 60 to 63 the catch-up is $5,250 in every SIMPLE plan ($22,250 in total on the standard limit).
Official Published by the IRS for tax year 2026 (IRS Notice 2025-67). These are the figures for income earned in 2026, reported on the 2026 return filed in early 2027. Planning for 2027? See the 2027 figures →
As of November 4, 2026 the IRS has not yet announced the 2027 SIMPLE IRA limits (IRS news releases); until it does, the official limit is $17,000 for 2026 ($21,000 at 50 or older).
| Limit | 2026 |
|---|---|
| SIMPLE elective deferral limitStandard limit, per employee | $17,000 |
| Higher SIMPLE deferral limitSECURE 2.0 §117 eligible employers: 25 or fewer employees, or 26-100 electing the extra match/contribution | $18,100 |
| Catch-up contribution, age 50+Standard limit, per employee aged 50 or over | $4,000 |
| Higher catch-up, age 50+SECURE 2.0 §117 eligible employers | $3,850 |
| Higher catch-up, ages 60 to 63SECURE 2.0 §109, every SIMPLE plan; replaces the age-50 catch-up in the years you turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 | $5,250 |
A SIMPLE plan lets an employer skip the nondiscrimination testing a 401(k) requires, in exchange for a mandatory employer contribution and a lower employee limit than a 401(k)’s $24,500. The higher deferral and catch-up figures only apply if the employer has adopted the SECURE 2.0 §117 higher-limit option; ask your plan administrator which schedule you are on.
Your 2026 SIMPLE limit
What a 2026 SIMPLE IRA contribution saves you in tax
Enter what you would defer pre-tax. The tax engine figures your 2026 federal and state return with and without it. Leave the amount blank for your maximum at your age.
2026 federal and state returns as filed (the Tax Table where the form uses it), from the same tax engine as the federal income tax calculator. Your own wages only, no other income, the standard deduction. The cap is the 2026 limits shown in the table above, with the age-50 catch-up and, in the years you turn 60 to 63, the higher catch-up.
No Social Security or Medicare tax is saved. An elective deferral “isn’t included in wages subject to income tax at the time contributed. However, it’s included in wages subject to social security and Medicare taxes” (IRS Publication 525) — unlike a health FSA or HSA through a cafeteria plan. A SIMPLE IRA is exempt from the Roth catch-up rule (26 U.S.C. §414(v), subsection (v)(7)(C)). The Saver’s Credit (IRS Form 8880) is included: elective deferrals to a 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b), SIMPLE or the TSP count, on up to $2,000 per person, assuming you are 18 or older, not a full-time student, not claimed as a dependent and took no retirement distributions in the testing period.
State treatment: Pennsylvania taxes employee contributions to any retirement plan as compensation (PA Personal Income Tax Guide: Gross Compensation); New Jersey excludes only 401(k) deferrals and taxes 403(b), 457, Thrift Savings Plan and SIMPLE IRA contributions (NJ Division of Taxation: NJ Income Tax – Wages). Those get no state saving here; every other state is treated as following the federal exclusion, and city or county income taxes are not included. Not modelled: employer contributions, and whether Roth would beat pre-tax for you, which depends on your tax rate in retirement.
Pre-tax now or Roth later? See the Roth Conversion Planner → Every dollar deferred here is taxed when it comes out; the planner works out the years and brackets that happens in.
Plan your 2026 contributions
Contributions for 2026 are still open: through payroll until 31 December for workplace plans, and until the April 2027 filing deadline for IRAs and HSAs. Free calculators:
- Catch-up contributions — the extra you can put in at 50 and older, and the higher catch-up at ages 60 to 63.
- Roth IRA calculator — how much you can put in a Roth IRA for 2026 at your income, what it grows to, and Roth versus traditional.
- Monte Carlo retirement calculator — whether your savings and contributions are enough: the success rate and the range of outcomes across simulated markets.
A SIMPLE plan is usually a stepping stone — what it saves now only matters next to what it costs to unwind later. QuantCalc runs your whole retirement — withdrawals, taxes, Medicare surcharges — year by year, on the 2026 figures above.
Run the free tax-aware simulation →Common questions
What is the SIMPLE IRA contribution limit for 2026?
The 2026 SIMPLE IRA and SIMPLE 401(k) elective deferral limit is $17,000 ($21,000 at 50 or older). At an eligible small employer — 25 or fewer employees, or 26-100 electing the higher match — the limit rises to $18,100, and the ages-60-to-63 catch-up there brings the total to $23,350. In the years you turn 60 to 63 the catch-up is $5,250 in every SIMPLE plan ($22,250 in total on the standard limit). Source: IRS Notice 2025-67.
What is the higher SIMPLE limit at a small employer?
$18,100 for employers of 25 or fewer employees, or an electing employer of 26 to 100 that adds the required extra match or contribution (SECURE 2.0 §117). Their age-50 catch-up is $3,850; the ages-60-63 catch-up is $5,250 there as in every SIMPLE plan (IRS Notice 2025-67).
What are the 2027 SIMPLE IRA limits?
See the 2027 SIMPLE IRA contribution limits, with the status of each 2027 figure marked.
Sources
Every figure on this page is read at build time from QuantCalc’s tax constants, the same ones the planner runs on, and was checked against the text of the documents above. Every figure with its source: JSON. QuantCalc is calculation software, not tax advice.
Related
2026 SEP IRA contribution limits → 2026 IRA contribution limits → 2026 401(k) contribution limits →