The key spousal IRA rules when only one spouse earns

Rates and limits checked on October 27, 2026.

A married couple filing a joint return can put up to $7,500 into an IRA for each spouse for tax year 2026, even if only one of them earned a paycheck. The rule behind it is the Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA limit. It caps the two contributions together at the taxable compensation reported on the couple’s joint return (IRS).

A spousal IRA is a regular IRA in the non-earner’s name

Every IRA has a single owner, and spouses can’t both participate in the same IRA (Publication 590-A). So the account is opened in the name of the spouse with little or no pay, and that spouse owns it outright. The working spouse’s earnings only decide how much can go in each year.

The spousal IRA is an ordinary IRA used under one extra rule, so it fits inside how each type of IRA and its income limits work. The account can be a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA.

Who qualifies under the joint-return rule

Filing separately ends the arrangement before it starts. In an example in Publication 590-A, a spouse who earned $3,800 could contribute the full limit on a joint return, but only $3,800 on a separate one.

For 2026, three conditions decide whether the rule works for a household.

Source: IRS Publication 590-A, Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA Limit

Compensation means pay for work. That covers wages, salaries, tips, commissions, self-employment earnings and nontaxable combat pay. It also covers taxable alimony under a divorce or separation instrument signed before 2019.

Pension or annuity income, interest, dividends and rental income don’t count. A couple living only on a pension and investment income has no compensation to support either IRA.

$7,500 each for 2026, capped by your joint pay

$7,500 per spouse is the 2026 ceiling. A spouse who is 50 or older adds a $1,100 catch-up, for a total of $8,600 (IRS news release IR-2025-111). Each spouse’s limit follows that spouse’s own age.

Source: IRS, IRA contribution limits, tax year 2026

The second cap matters when pay is low. For the lower-earning spouse, the most that can go in is the smaller of two figures:
that spouse’s dollar limit, or the couple’s combined compensation minus whatever the higher earner put into their own traditional and Roth IRAs for the year.

Example: one spouse earns $9,000 in wages and the other has no income. Both are under 50, and they file jointly. The earner puts $5,000 into their own traditional IRA first.

Source: IRS Publication 590-A

Across both accounts the couple puts in $9,000, which equals their joint compensation.

How does the deduction work when only one of you has a 401(k)?

A common assumption is that the earner’s workplace plan wipes out the deduction for the spouse at home. It doesn’t. For 2026, a spouse who isn’t covered by a plan at work, but is married to someone who is, gets a separate and much higher income range.

Source: IRS news release IR-2025-111

Coverage usually shows up as a checked “Retirement plan” box on the earner’s Form W-2. Social Security doesn’t count as coverage (IRS: Are you covered by an employer’s retirement plan?).

Example: a couple’s joint modified AGI is $160,000, all from one spouse’s wages. That spouse contributes to a 401(k) at work; the other has no job and no plan. Both are 45, and each makes a $7,500 traditional IRA contribution for 2026.

Source: ranges from IR-2025-111

The couple claims a $7,500 IRA deduction on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), which was line 20 on the 2025 form. The earner’s $7,500 still goes into the IRA and grows tax-deferred; it simply isn’t deducted.

To see what the deduction changes on the tax bill, enter $160,000 of joint income in the income tax calculator, then run it again with $152,500. The earner’s side follows the income ranges for deducting a traditional IRA.

Raise the income and the non-working spouse’s deduction shrinks. At joint modified AGI of $247,000, that spouse is halfway through the $10,000 range:
($252,000 − $247,000) ÷ $10,000 × $7,500 = $3,750 deductible, and the other $3,750 is nondeductible. Worksheet 1-2 in Publication 590-A walks through the same arithmetic.

Couples who also received Social Security benefits that year use the Appendix B worksheets of Publication 590-A instead of Worksheet 1-2.

Roth or traditional for the spouse at home

Only the Roth version has an income ceiling for making contributions; a traditional IRA accepts them at any income level (Publication 590-A). On a 2026 joint return, the Roth limit starts shrinking at $242,000 of modified AGI and reaches zero at $252,000 (IR-2025-111). Married couples filing separately who lived together during the year lose Roth eligibility once modified AGI hits $10,000.

A deductible traditional contribution lowers this year’s taxable income, and withdrawals are taxed later. A Roth contribution is never deductible, and it doesn’t require Form 8606.

Which version lowers a couple’s lifetime tax more turns on today’s bracket compared with the bracket expected in retirement. That’s worth putting to a CPA or enrolled agent in these words: “With our joint MAGI, and only one of us covered by a workplace plan, does a traditional or Roth contribution for my non-working spouse lower our 2026 tax more, and do we need Form 8606?”

For a projection of $7,500 a year in that spouse’s Roth, the Roth IRA calculator takes the yearly amount, the years until withdrawals and a return you pick. Its result moves with that return assumption.

Mistakes that turn a spousal contribution into an excess

A 6% tax applies to an excess IRA contribution for each year it stays in the account. It is capped at 6% of the combined value of all your IRAs at year-end (IRS). Withdrawing the excess plus its earnings by the return due date, including extensions, avoids it.

Four errors create one in spousal setups:

• Switching to married filing separately after funding the spouse’s IRA, which drops that spouse’s limit to their own compensation, often $0.
• Treating pension, annuity, interest or rental income as pay.
• Totaling both deposits without first subtracting the earner’s own traditional and Roth contributions from joint compensation.
• Depositing between January 1 and April 15 without naming the tax year, which lets the custodian report it for the current year.

If one of these has already happened, removing an excess IRA contribution before the 6% tax applies depends on whether the due date has passed.

Open the account in your spouse’s name before the April deadline

Open a Roth or traditional IRA titled in the non-earning spouse’s name. Banks, credit unions, brokerages, mutual fund companies and life insurers all offer them (Publication 590-A). Then:

1. Deposit cash, a check or a money order; property can’t be contributed.
2. For a deposit made between January 1 and April 15, 2027, tell the custodian it’s for 2026.
3. On the joint return, claim the deductible part on Schedule 1 and report any nondeductible part on Form 8606. Missing a required Form 8606 brings a $50 penalty unless there’s reasonable cause.

Deadline: Contributions for 2026 must be made by the due date of the 2026 return, not counting extensions. For most couples that is April 15, 2027.

How the deadline works with a filing extension, and how a tax refund can go straight into an IRA, is covered in the IRA contribution deadline rules.

Age and paperwork questions

Is there an age limit for a spousal IRA?

No. For 2020 and later there’s no age limit on regular contributions to traditional or Roth IRAs. A spouse in their 70s can still receive one if the couple has enough compensation (IRS).

Do we have to file Form 8606 every year?

Only in a year with a nondeductible traditional IRA contribution. Roth contributions don’t need it (Publication 590-A).