How is a Roth conversion taxed?

The amount you convert is added to your ordinary income for the year and taxed at your federal rates. It first uses up any standard deduction your other income leaves unused, so that part is tax-free; the rest is taxed at the rate of each bracket it lands in.

When does a Roth conversion pay off?

When the tax rate you would pay on withdrawing the money later is higher than the rate you pay on converting it now, provided you pay the conversion tax from money outside the IRA. If the rates are equal, the two come out the same; the number of years only changes the size of the difference.

Should I pay the tax from the IRA?

Paying it from the converted money shrinks what goes into the Roth, and before 59½ the part withheld can also face the 10% additional tax. This calculator assumes the tax is paid from other money.

Can I take converted money out straight away?

Each conversion starts its own 5-year period on 1 January of the year you convert. Before 59½, taking converted money out within that period can trigger the 10% additional tax.

Roth conversion calculator

See the federal tax on converting part of your IRA to a Roth this year, how much more fits in your bracket, and the tax rate at which converting pays off.

Federal tax on converting $50,000 in 2026, married filing jointly, with $90,000 of other income:

$6,700

That is 13.4% of the conversion. Your top bracket goes from 12% to 22%. Converting comes out ahead if your tax rate when you withdraw would be above 13.4%.

Conversion that fills your current 12% bracket: $43,000
After 15 years at 5%, converted: $103,946; Tax-free when withdrawn after 59½ and after the Roth's five-year period; before that, earnings can be taxed.
Left pre-tax, after tax at 22%: $95,007; Including the $6,700 you kept, grown at the same return.

At a 22% rate later, converting is ahead by $8,939.

Filing status

SingleMarried, jointly

Amount to convert this yearFrom 0 to 5,000,000.$Other taxable income this yearWages, pension, IRA withdrawals and other ordinary income, before the standard deduction. Leave out Social Security. From 0 to 5,000,000.$Your tax rate when you would withdraw it, %Your marginal federal rate then: your best guess. From 0 to 37, up to 2 decimal places.Years until you would withdraw itFrom 1 to 50.Yearly return, %Your assumption. It changes the size of the gap, not who comes out ahead. From 0 to 12, up to 2 decimal places.

Federal tax only, at 2026 brackets and the basic standard deduction. Not modeled: state tax, how a conversion makes more Social Security taxable, Medicare IRMAA surcharges two years later, credits and the extra deduction at 65. A conversion also raises the income that sets an ACA marketplace premium tax credit, so before Medicare it can cost you subsidy; see the ACA subsidy cliff calculator. The comparison assumes the tax is paid from money outside the IRA, and that the converted money stays in the Roth until it can come out tax-free (after 59½ and the five-year period). The link carries your figures after the #, so you can save or share it. Your figures are not sent to us.

Filling a bracket

Converting a little each year often costs less than converting a lot at once, because a large conversion climbs into higher brackets. A common approach is to convert just enough to reach the top of the bracket you are already in, and stop.

With little other income the first part is free: the 2026 standard deduction is $16,100 single and $32,200 married filing jointly, and a conversion uses whatever your other income leaves of it.

The years that suit a conversion

The gap between stopping work and your first required minimum distribution is often the cheapest time: little earned income, and no RMDs yet. If you buy health cover on the ACA marketplace before Medicare, count the premium tax credit too: the conversion is income for it, and the ACA subsidy cliff calculator shows how much room you have. Converting then shrinks the pre-tax balance that later RMDs are worked out from. The RMD calculator shows what those would be.

Planning to retire before 59½? The Roth conversion ladder lays out a conversion each year and the bridge money you need until the first one can come out.

Questions people ask

How is a Roth conversion taxed?: The amount you convert is added to your ordinary income for the year and taxed at your federal rates. It first uses up any standard deduction your other income leaves unused, so that part is tax-free; the rest is taxed at the rate of each bracket it lands in.
When does a Roth conversion pay off?: When the tax rate you would pay on withdrawing the money later is higher than the rate you pay on converting it now, provided you pay the conversion tax from money outside the IRA. If the rates are equal, the two come out the same; the number of years only changes the size of the difference.
Should I pay the tax from the IRA?: Paying it from the converted money shrinks what goes into the Roth, and before 59½ the part withheld can also face the 10% additional tax. This calculator assumes the tax is paid from other money.
Can I take converted money out straight away?: Each conversion starts its own 5-year period on 1 January of the year you convert. Before 59½, taking converted money out within that period can trigger the 10% additional tax.

Sources: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 brackets and standard deduction) and IRC §408A (Roth conversions).