Are Roth Conversions Still Allowed in 2026? What SECURE 2.0 Changed

Short Answer: Roth Conversions Are Generally Allowed in 2026

Any investor with a traditional IRA, rollover IRA, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA (after the 2-year holding period), or a former-employer 401(k) may generally convert any portion of that balance to a Roth IRA in 2026. There is no income limit. There is no annual dollar cap.

The tax rule is generally straightforward. The converted amount is generally added to ordinary income for the year of conversion and taxed at the investor's marginal rate. Qualified distributions from the Roth are then generally not subject to federal income tax. The 5-year rule generally applies to converted principal for investors under age 59.5, as discussed in the 5-year rule on converted principal. SECURE 2.0 did not modify any of these mechanics, and as of May 2026 no pending federal legislation alters them.

What SECURE 2.0 Actually Changed (and What It Did Not)

SECURE 2.0 was signed on December 29, 2022, as Division T of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. None of its changes restricted Roth conversions. The provisions below are the ones investors most frequently confuse with conversion rules.

RMD Age Moved to 73 (and 75 in 2033)

Section 107 raised the RMD beginning age from 72 to 73 for individuals who turn 72 after December 31, 2022 (generally those born between 1951 and 1959), with a further increase to age 75 effective January 1, 2033, for those born in 1960 or later. This extended the pre-RMD planning window, because RMD amounts themselves cannot be converted. See how the new RMD age affects conversion timing.

Catch-Up Contributions: New Rules for High Earners

Section 109 created an enhanced 401(k) catch-up for participants ages 60-63, and Section 603 requires that catch-up contributions by employees earning more than $145,000 in the prior year (the SECURE 2.0 statutory threshold, indexed annually) be made on a designated Roth basis within the plan. Section 603 became effective January 1, 2026. It changes how catch-ups are taxed inside an employer plan and does not restrict standard Roth conversions. See the mega backdoor Roth and its legislative history.

Inherited IRA Rules: SECURE 2.0 Clarifications

The SECURE Act of 2019 created the 10-year distribution rule for most non-spouse beneficiaries. SECURE 2.0 and the July 2024 IRS final regulations are generally understood to have confirmed that beneficiaries who inherited from an owner already taking RMDs are generally required to continue annual RMDs during the 10-year window. Non-spouse beneficiaries generally cannot convert an inherited traditional IRA to an inherited Roth IRA. See inherited IRA Roth conversion rules under the SECURE Act.

What SECURE 2.0 Did NOT Change: Roth Conversions

SECURE 2.0 did not modify Roth conversion rules. It did not ban or restrict conversions, did not introduce an income limit, did not impose a dollar cap, did not change how converted amounts are taxed, and did not restrict the backdoor or mega backdoor Roth. IRS Notice 2024-2 provided implementing Q&A guidance and did not announce any restriction on Roth conversions.

Current Roth Conversion Rules for 2026

The rules below describe the federal framework as generally understood under current law. State tax treatment varies. Confirm with a qualified tax professional before executing.

1. No income limit. Any investor, regardless of MAGI, may generally convert any amount.
2. No annual dollar limit. A multi-million-dollar conversion and a $5,000 conversion generally follow the same rule set.
3. Converted amount is generally ordinary income in the year of conversion. Generally taxed at the investor's marginal federal and state rates.
4. No age limit under current law. RMDs at age 73 (or 75, depending on birth year) are generally required to be taken first, and RMD amounts themselves generally cannot be converted.
5. Former-employer 401(k) can generally be converted to a Roth IRA, directly or by first rolling to a traditional IRA. In-service conversions depend on the plan.
6. Non-spouse inherited IRA beneficiaries generally cannot convert. The 10-year distribution rule applies separately.
7. The 5-year rule generally applies to converted principal. Each conversion generally has its own 5-year clock for investors under age 59.5.
8. Conversions are generally irrevocable. TCJA is generally understood to have eliminated recharacterization for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017.

These rules have been stable since 2018. IRS Notice 2024-2 confirmed SECURE 2.0 did not modify them.

The Threats That Did NOT Become Law

Three legislative threats generated significant press coverage in recent years and contributed to lingering uncertainty. None became law.

The House-passed version of Build Back Better (H.R. 5376, 2021) would have eliminated mega backdoor Roth conversions starting in 2022 and banned Roth conversions of pre-tax balances for taxpayers with income above $400,000 (single) or $450,000 (joint) starting in 2032. The Senate did not pass that version. The provisions that became law as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 stripped out the Roth conversion restrictions entirely.

Several "super Roth" proposals circulated as discussion drafts to cap conversion eligibility for investors with large balances. None advanced. Roth conversions have also appeared in budget scoring as potential revenue raisers. No such proposal has advanced as of May 2026. Congressional risk is real. The appropriate response is generally to use the current rules while they remain in place.

Why People Keep Asking If Roth Conversions Are Still Allowed

The persistent search volume reflects the information environment, not the law. Build Back Better received heavy coverage in 2021 and 2022, and articles from that period warning of a ban remain indexed in search results and AI-assistant answers. The AI-native form of the query signals that readers want a current-year answer. This article is updated annually.

What Changed in the Past 10 Years: A Brief Timeline

• 2010: First tax year in which all investors could convert without an income limit (after the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 removed the prior $100,000 MAGI cap).
• 2018: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 eliminated recharacterization for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017. Conversions became irrevocable.
• 2019: The SECURE Act raised the RMD age from 70.5 to 72 and created the 10-year distribution rule for most non-spouse beneficiaries.
• 2021: Build Back Better (H.R. 5376) included provisions that would have banned the mega backdoor Roth and capped conversions for high earners. The bill did not pass in that form.
• 2022: SECURE 2.0 enacted. Raised RMD age to 73 (and scheduled 75 starting 2033). Did not restrict Roth conversions.
• 2024: IRS Notice 2024-2 confirmed Roth conversion rules were unchanged. Final inherited IRA regulations issued July 2024.
• 2025-2026: No new federal legislation restricting Roth conversions. Section 603 Roth catch-up requirement for high earners became effective January 1, 2026.

Options for Investors Who Have Been Waiting to Convert

Investors who delayed conversions through 2021 and 2022 are now several years behind on potential tax-free growth and may have given up part of the optimal pre-RMD window. The possibility of future restrictions is, if anything, one reason many investors discuss converting under the current rules with their advisor rather than continuing to wait. Common sequencing errors are covered in common Roth conversion mistakes.

For investors interested in potentially reducing the tax cost of each conversion, a structural option may exist under current law. Private real estate interests held inside a self-directed IRA are commonly valued by a third-party appraisal firm at a discount to nominal NAV. The sponsor reports the discounted value to the IRA custodian, and the conversion is generally taxed on the discounted basis. See how the NAV-discount approach may potentially reduce the tax cost of conversions using private real estate. Investors may want to confirm treatment with a qualified tax attorney before executing.

Not all private real estate offerings include NAV-discounted valuations. Whether a specific offering carries a discount, and the magnitude of that discount, depends on the offering's structure, the underlying assets, and the sponsor's third-party appraisal at the time of investment. Anchor1031 does not guarantee discount availability on any specific deal.

Common Mistakes Investors Make When Converting in 2026

The most common failure mode in 2026 is not a planning error inside the conversion itself. It is acting (or failing to act) on a misreading of the current rules. The five patterns below generally account for most avoidable mistakes investors make this year.

• Misreading SECURE 2.0 as eliminating conversions. SECURE 2.0 did not restrict, ban, or modify Roth conversions. It generally raised the RMD beginning age to 73 (and 75 starting in 2033) and required catch-up contributions for higher earners inside employer plans to be made on a designated Roth basis. Treating these provisions as a conversion restriction is one of the most frequent misreadings in 2026, and it potentially costs investors years of pre-RMD planning window.
• Waiting for legislation that may never come. Build Back Better, the "super Roth" proposals, and successive budget-scoring drafts generated headlines but did not become law. Holding a conversion indefinitely in anticipation of restrictions that may never pass generally trades a known opportunity for a hypothetical one. Investors concerned about future restrictions may want to discuss converting under the current rules with a qualified tax advisor rather than continuing to wait.
• Over-converting in a single year to "catch up" for missed years. Stacking three or four years of intended conversions into one tax year generally can push ordinary income through multiple federal brackets, may trigger NIIT, and can compress what would have been a multiyear bracket-filling strategy into a single high-rate event. A more measured pace, often spread across several years, generally preserves more of the after-tax benefit.
• Not coordinating with year-end IRMAA. Medicare IRMAA uses a 2-year MAGI lookback, so a December conversion generally raises Medicare Part B and Part D premiums two years later. Investors who convert at year-end without modeling the IRMAA bracket they are about to land in are often surprised by the surcharge when it arrives. Modeling the conversion against the next IRMAA threshold, with a qualified tax advisor, may help avoid the bracket cliff.
• Ignoring state-tax changes that may have shifted in 2024-2026. Several states have modified their treatment of conversions, retirement income, or pass-through entities since 2024. A conversion that made sense under prior state rules may produce a different result under the current ones. Confirm the current state framework with a qualified tax professional before executing, particularly if a move between states is also on the table.

For the complete list of Roth conversion mistakes across all strategies, see Roth Conversion Mistakes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

This article references the following IRS publications and Internal Revenue Code sections.

• 26 U.S.C. Section 408A, Roth IRA rules (Cornell Law)
• 26 U.S.C. Section 408, Individual Retirement Accounts (Cornell Law)
• 26 U.S.C. Section 401(a)(9), Required Minimum Distribution rules (Cornell Law)
• SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, enacted as Division T of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023
• Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Public Law 115-97, eliminated Roth conversion recharacterization
• IRS Notice 2024-2, Miscellaneous Changes Under the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022
• IRS Publication 590-A, Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements
• IRS Publication 590-B, Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements
• IRS Form 8606, Nondeductible IRAs