Spousal IRA Contribution

Assume a working spouse has enough earned income to annually contribute the maximum amount to their IRA. Assume the MAGI is low enough so the working spouse is eligible for a Roth IRA contribution.

Assume the client’s spouse does not have earned income.

Assume the working spouse in a particular year does NOT make an IRA contribution. In that particular year, is it correct that the non-working spouse can not contribute to their IRA?

My understanding is the non-working spouse’s IRA contribution is limited to the the extent that the working spouse contributed to their IRA account, not to exceed the annual IRS limit. Is this correct?

Or can the non-working spouse, in a particular year, contribute to their IRA any amount, up to the IRS limit, even if the working spouse did NOT contribute to their IRA in that same year?

Thank you.



  • ” is it correct that the non-working spouse can not contribute to their IRA?”  Not correct.  Provided that there is sufficient compensation of the working spouse to support the contributions, the contribution limit for the spouse without compensation is unaffected by the amount the working spouse does or does not contribute to any IRA or other retirement plan.
  • If the total contributions by both spouses is limited by the compensation of the working spouse, the less the working spouse contributes, the *more* the non-working spouse can contribute, up to the individual contribution limit of the non-working spouse.
  • For the non-working spouse to be eligible to make any IRA contribution, the couple must file a joint tax return.


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