Topic no. 309, Roth IRA contributions

A Roth individual retirement arrangement (Roth IRA) is a tax-favored account or annuity set up in the United States solely for the benefit of you and your beneficiaries. You can contribute to a Roth IRA if you have taxable compensation and your modified adjusted gross income is within certain limitations. Regardless of the amount of your adjusted gross income, you may be able to convert amounts from either a traditional, SEP, or SIMPLE IRA into a Roth IRA. You also may be able to roll over amounts from a qualified retirement plan to a Roth IRA. Contributions made to a Roth IRA may be able to be recharacterized as a contribution made directly to another type of IRA. However, conversions after 2017 from a traditional, SEP, or SIMPLE IRA to a Roth IRA may not be recharacterized. In addition, amounts rolled over after 2017 from a qualified retirement plan to a Roth IRA may not be recharacterized. Refer to Topic No. 413 for information about rollovers. A Roth IRA differs from a traditional IRA in that contributions aren't deductible and qualified distributions aren't included in income.

For information on contributions and the limitations, please refer to Chapter 2 of Publication 590-A, Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs).