What Is a Nondeductible IRA?
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There’s plenty of upside to being wealthy, and at least one downside: At higher incomes, the IRS shuts you out of some of the biggest tax benefits of individual retirement accounts.
Specifically, if you earn too much to contribute to a Roth IRA, there's a good chance you're also ineligible to deduct contributions to a traditional IRA. Enter the nondeductible IRA, which has more advantages than the name implies.
What is a nondeductible IRA?
The name gives it away: A nondeductible IRA is a traditional IRA for which you don’t get an immediate tax deduction for your contributions. While there’s no tax benefit for these contributions, any investment returns earned in the account will be tax-deferred until you take distributions in retirement.
When taking distributions from your traditional IRA in retirement, you’ll pay taxes on investment gains. However, the money that you contributed as part of the nondeductible IRA is withdrawn without taxes because you didn’t take a deduction when you first put it in.
When you can't deduct contributions to an IRA
A traditional IRA doesn’t technically have income limits for eligibility like the Roth IRA. But if you’re covered by a retirement plan at work and you earn too much to contribute to a Roth IRA, you also earn too much to deduct your contributions to a traditional IRA.
In 2024, if you are a single filer and you are covered by a retirement plan at work, you're no longer eligible to deduct contributions to a traditional IRA at incomes of $87,000 or more. If you're married filing jointly and you have a retirement plan at work, that income threshold is $143,000 in 2024. In 2025, those thresholds rise to $89,000 for single filers and $146,000 for joint filers.
If you don't have a retirement plan but your spouse does, you can deduct IRA contributions until your combined income hits $240,000 in 2024 or $246,000 in 2025.
» Learn more: See the full list of traditional IRA income limits
If you're not eligible to deduct traditional IRA contributions, you can still contribute to that workplace plan — especially if your employer offers matching dollars — and the nondeductible IRA.
» See our top picks for the best IRA accounts
The real benefit of a nondeductible IRA
The tax-deferral of investment earnings you get from a nondeductible IRA is a perk, sure. But making those earnings tax-free is better — and by jumping through a few hoops, you can achieve that.
How? By converting the money in a nondeductible IRA to a Roth IRA through a backdoor Roth IRA. Despite the name, it’s not nearly as sinister as it sounds.
In fact, it’s IRS-approved and something financial advisors frequently recommend for people with higher incomes.
When you make contributions to a Roth, you do so with after-tax dollars. When you convert nondeductible IRA contributions to a Roth, you’re converting after-tax dollars, too. Once that conversion is complete, any investment growth within the account can be pulled out as a qualified distribution tax-free.
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Converting a nondeductible IRA into a Roth IRA
Before you convert the money in a nondeductible IRA into a Roth IRA, you'll need to pay taxes on any untaxed money before it lands in the Roth account.
(This could be tricky if you also have other IRAs — say from a 401(k) rollover — because the IRS looks at all accounts combined and your conversion is taxed pro-rata. For more on that, read our full guide to backdoor Roth IRAs.)
Even if you don't have other IRAs, if you allow the contributions you make to your traditional IRA to earn an investment return, you may have to pay taxes on that growth when you do the conversion.
That’s not a huge issue, but it does simplify things to make your entire year’s contribution at once and then convert that amount. The IRA contribution limit is $7,000 in 2024 and 2025 ($8,000 if age 50 and older).
Most brokerages will help you with the conversion and report to you any tax you owe. But you should still keep track of any gains and contributions on your own and consult with a tax advisor to ensure you’ve reported nondeductible contributions and completed the conversion correctly.
Finally, know that this is a move you can’t take back — tax reform laws eliminated the ability to reverse a conversion.
» Take it one step further: Read our guide to mega backdoor Roths
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