Roth conversion by December 31: filling the 22% bracket in 2026
What three households can convert in 2026 without leaving the 22% (or 24%) bracket, what it costs in federal tax, and why the money must move by December 31.
On this page 4 sections
A Roth conversion is ordinary income in the year the money leaves the traditional IRA, so the amount that fits in a bracket is arithmetic: standard deduction, plus bracket top, minus the income you already have. For 2026 a single filer under 65 with $60,000 of wages can convert $61,800 before taxable income passes $105,700, the top of the 22% bracket; the conversion adds $12,946 of federal tax. A married couple under 65 with $120,000 of income can convert $123,600 before passing $211,400, for $25,892. The calendar matters twice: a 2026 conversion has to leave the traditional IRA by December 31, 2026, not by the April filing date, and since 2018 it cannot be reversed.
The numbers
Every figure below comes from the MoneyVibe Roth conversion calculator, which applies the 2026 brackets and standard deductions ($16,100 single, $32,200 joint, plus $1,650 per spouse 65 or older), the senior deduction ($6,000 per person 65 or older, reduced by 6% of income over $150,000 joint), the rules that make up to 85% of Social Security taxable, and the 2026 Medicare premium (IRMAA) lines. The conversion is pre-tax money, taxable this year, with the tax paid from outside the account; nothing else is on the return (no capital gains, itemized deductions or state tax). The households are examples, not forecasts.
| Household (2026 income before the conversion) | Stop at the top of | Convert up to | Federal tax the conversion adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single, under 65, $60,000 of wages | 22% bracket ($105,700) | $61,800 | $12,946 |
| Single, under 65, $60,000 of wages | 24% bracket ($201,775) | $157,875 | $36,004 |
| Joint, under 65, $120,000 of wages | 22% bracket ($211,400) | $123,600 | $25,892 |
| Joint, under 65, $120,000 of wages | 24% bracket ($403,550) | $315,750 | $72,008 |
| Joint, both 65 or older, $60,000 pension and $50,000 Social Security | 22% bracket ($211,400) | $144,732 | $30,026 |
| Joint, both 65 or older, $60,000 pension and $50,000 Social Security | 24% bracket ($403,550) | $336,550 | $76,142 |
The single filer starts with $43,900 of taxable income ($60,000 less the $16,100 standard deduction) and $5,020 of federal tax, inside the 12% bracket. The first $6,500 of conversion fills the rest of that bracket at 12% ($780); the next $55,300 fills the 22% bracket ($12,166). Together the $61,800 conversion costs $12,946, an average of 20.95%. The next $10,000 would be taxed at 24% and add $2,400. Filling the 24% bracket as well means converting $157,875 for $36,004, 22.81% on average.
The working couple has the same shape with joint figures: $87,800 of taxable income before converting, $13,000 of room at 12% ($1,560), then $110,600 at 22% ($24,332), so $123,600 converted costs $25,892, again 20.95% on average. Filling the 24% bracket too means $315,750 for $72,008.
The retired couple shows why the calculator does the arithmetic: with $60,000 of pension and $50,000 of Social Security, $40,850 of the benefits are already taxable, adjusted gross income is $100,850, and after the $35,500 standard deduction (with two aged additions) and the $12,000 senior deduction, taxable income is $53,350 and tax is $5,906. The room is not a bracket top minus $53,350. Converting $45,800 makes $1,650 more of the benefits taxable (the 85% ceiling, $42,500, is reached), so taxable income rises by $47,450 to exactly $100,800, the top of the 12% bracket, and the conversion costs $5,694, 12.43% on average. Past that point each dollar costs 22%, and once income passes $150,000 it also shaves 12 cents off the senior deduction (6% per spouse), a 24.64% rate; the next $10,000 adds $2,419. Filling the 22% bracket means converting $144,732 for $30,026; the 24% bracket, $336,550 for $76,142.
| Stop at (joint, both 65 or older, $60,000 pension, $50,000 Social Security) | Convert up to | Income (MAGI) after | Medicare surcharge two years later |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top of the 12% bracket | $45,800 | $148,300 | $0 |
| First Medicare premium line ($218,000) | $115,500 | $218,000 | $0 |
| Top of the 22% bracket | $144,732 | $247,232 | $2,297 a year for two people |
| Top of the 24% bracket | $336,550 | $439,050 | $12,710 a year for two people |
Stopping at the top of the 12% bracket keeps this couple's modified adjusted gross income at $148,300, below the $218,000 line where Medicare surcharges begin; $115,500 can be converted before that line. Filling the 22% bracket lifts income to $247,232, the first surcharge tier in 2026 terms: $81.20 a month for Part B and $14.50 for Part D, per person, $2,296.80 a year for two. Filling the 24% bracket reaches $439,050, the fourth tier, $12,710.40 a year for two. The surcharge arrives two years after the conversion year on lines that are indexed, so treat it as an estimate.
Why it works this way
The conversion is income in the year of the distribution. Publication 590-A says converted amounts "are normally included in income on your return for the year that you converted them", and its recharacterization rules treat a conversion done by rollover, with the distribution in one year and the deposit into the Roth IRA within 60 days but in the next year, as a contribution to the Roth IRA in the year of the distribution. Topic 413 states the general rule: a distribution not rolled over tax-free is income in the year of the distribution, and a rollover into a Roth IRA from another type of account is taxable. Nothing lets a January conversion count for the prior year. Contributions are different: Publication 590-A says they can be made until the return's due date, so a 2026 contribution can wait until the return's due date in April 2027, but a 2026 conversion has to leave the traditional IRA in 2026. A required minimum distribution for the year cannot be converted; it has to come out first.
It cannot be undone. Section 408A(d)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code lets a taxpayer move a contribution from one IRA to another before the return's due date and treat it as made to the second IRA (a recharacterization). Section 13611 of Public Law 115-97, the 2017 tax act, added clause (iii): the rule "shall not apply in the case of a qualified rollover contribution" under section 408A(d)(3), which is a conversion, for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017. Publication 590-A and the Form 8606 instructions say the same: a conversion made in 2018 or later cannot be recharacterized. A conversion that turns out too large, because a bonus or a gain pushed income higher than expected, stays on the return.
The brackets and deductions are the 2026 ones. Revenue Procedure 2025-32 sets the 2026 brackets used here: single filers pay 12% to $50,400 of taxable income, 22% to $105,700 and 24% to $201,775; joint filers pay 12% to $100,800, 22% to $211,400 and 24% to $403,550. The standard deduction is $16,100 single and $32,200 joint, plus $1,650 per married person 65 or older ($2,050 if unmarried). The $6,000 senior deduction comes from Public Law 119-21, applies for tax years 2025 through 2028, and shrinks by 6% of income over $75,000 ($150,000 joint). The taxable share of Social Security follows 26 U.S.C. section 86. The conversion is reported on Form 8606, Part II, for the year it happened.
What changes the answer
- Income you have not counted yet. The room is the standard deduction plus the bracket top minus everything else on the return: wages through December, a bonus, interest, a required minimum distribution. Each $1,000 you forgot removes $1,000 of room and, once the conversion is done, is taxed at the next bracket's rate. Long-term capital gains and qualified dividends stack on top of ordinary income and are not modeled, so test a planned sale separately.
- Social Security and the senior deduction. For the retired couple, taxable income grew by $47,450 on a $45,800 conversion because more of the benefits became taxable, and past the 12% top each dollar cost 22%, rising to 24.64% once income passed $150,000 and the senior deduction began to shrink. Before benefits start, or once 85% of them are taxable, the room is plain arithmetic again.
- Medicare premiums two years later. The calculator applies the 2026 IRMAA lines from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ($109,000 single, $218,000 joint) to income with the conversion. Each line is a cliff: one dollar over adds the whole tier, $1,148.40 a year per person at the first tier. The retired couple's $115,500 of room to the first line is less than the $144,732 that fills the 22% bracket, so for someone on Medicare the premium line, not the bracket top, can be the binding one.
- Where the tax comes from, and what is not modeled. The calculator assumes the $12,946 or $25,892 is paid from savings outside the IRA; paying it from the conversion means less reaches the Roth, and under 59½ the part kept for tax is a distribution that can carry the 10% additional tax. State income tax, Marketplace (ACA) premium credits (based on a modified adjusted gross income a conversion raises), the pro-rata rule for after-tax IRA money and the net investment income tax are not modeled.
What to do first
- Estimate your 2026 income without the conversion: pay or pension through December, interest and dividends, any required minimum distribution, and Social Security if it has started. The tax bracket calculator shows where that lands.
- Enter that income, your filing status, your age and your Social Security in the Roth conversion calculator. It shows the tax added by the amount you type, the cost of the next dollar, and the room before each bracket top and the first Medicare line.
- Request the conversion well before December 31, as a trustee-to-trustee or same-trustee transfer rather than a 60-day rollover, and ask the custodian for its year-end cut-off: what counts is the date the money leaves the traditional IRA. Publication 590-A notes conversion income may call for more withholding or an estimated payment; the quarterly estimated tax calculator shows the January 15 amount.
Next steps: run your own figures in the Roth conversion calculator, read the library chapter Roth conversions: when paying tax early pays off, or see the glossary for IRMAA and the marginal tax rate.
Not tax or legal advice. Federal rules as published by the IRS in Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and Publication 590-A, read on October 12, 2026; confirm with a tax professional before acting.