For Roth IRA contributions, The married filing separately should be half of the married filing jointly, why only 10,000?

[haiwen68]

The Turbo Tax shows: Roth IRA contributions aren't permitted if your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) is at or above the following limits:

- 199,000 if you're married filing jointly, or a qualified widower

- 10,000 if you're married filing separately

- 135,000 for all other filing statuses

I am married filing separately. My AGI is 44,847, It shows your income too high to contributions.

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

The information listed by TurboTax is that stated in the tax code.  The MAGI limit for a Roth IRA contribution for MFS is not half of the MFS limit.  If you are married filing separately, the law stipulates that you are not permitted to make any Roth IRA contribution if your modified AGI is $10,000 or more.  If your AGI is $44,847 and includes no Roth conversions, your MAGI of $44,847 exceeds $10,000 and you are not permitted to make a Roth IRA contribution.  If you contributed to a Roth IRA, it's an excess contribution subject to penalty.