Saver's Match
Calculator 2027

The Saver's Match is a federal matching contribution for retirement savers, created by section 103 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 and codified at Internal Revenue Code section 6433. It applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026 — so the first eligible contributions are those made during 2027, claimed on the 2027 tax return filed in 2028 using Form 8880-A. The government pays 50% of up to $2,000 of your retirement savings contributions, a maximum of $1,000 per eligible person per year. Unlike the Saver's Credit it replaces, it is not a reduction in your tax bill: the money is deposited into an IRA or workplace retirement plan in your name, where it is invested and grows alongside your own savings. Treasury and the IRS issued the first implementation guidance in Notice 2026-48 on August 7, 2026, with public comments due October 5, 2026.

The match is based on modified adjusted gross income and phases out over a fixed range that depends on filing status. Single filers and those married filing separately get the full 50% up to $20,500 of MAGI, a partial match from $20,501 to $35,499, and nothing at $35,500 or above. Head-of-household filers get the full match up to $30,750, a partial match to $53,249, and nothing at $53,250 or above. Married couples filing jointly get the full match up to $41,000, a partial match to $70,999, and nothing at $71,000 or above. The head-of-household figures are three-quarters of the joint figures and the single figures are one-half of them, which is how IRC section 6433(b)(2) defines them. Section 6433(h) indexes the $41,000 base amount for cost of living for years beginning after 2026, so these numbers may be uprated before the program starts.

The statute reduces the 50% rate proportionally across the phase-out range, then rounds the reduction down to a whole percentage point. Take your MAGI above the threshold, divide by the width of the phase-out range, multiply by 50, and round that reduction down; subtract it from 50 to get your applicable percentage. A single filer with $28,000 of MAGI is $7,500 into a $15,000 range, so the reduction is 50 × 7,500 ÷ 15,000 = 25 points, giving an applicable percentage of 25%. On a $2,000 contribution that is a $500 match. Because the reduction is rounded down rather than to the nearest point, the rounding always works marginally in the taxpayer's favour.

Under IRC section 6433(c) you must have reached age 18 by the end of the tax year, must not be a full-time student as defined in section 152(f)(2), must not be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return, and must not be a nonresident alien (subject to the statutory exception for those treated as US residents). You also need qualified retirement savings contributions — money you actually put into an IRA, 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b), SIMPLE or SEP, or as voluntary after-tax plan contributions. There is no minimum contribution. Married couples apply every test individually, so each spouse can earn up to $1,000 in their own right, for a household maximum of $2,000, even though both spouses use the same joint MAGI and the same joint phase-out range.

Yes, and this is the rule that catches people out. IRC section 6433(d) reduces your qualified retirement savings contributions — but not below zero — by the total distributions you received during a testing period that runs across three tax years: the year in question plus the two preceding years, extended to the due date of that year's return including extensions. So a 2027 Saver's Match is reduced by distributions taken in 2025, 2026 and 2027, and by any taken in 2028 up to the filing deadline. If you contributed $2,000 during 2027 but took a $1,500 IRA withdrawal in 2026, only $500 counts toward the match. This mirrors the anti-churning rule that already applies to the Saver's Credit under section 25B(d)(2), and it exists to stop people cycling the same money out and back in to harvest the match repeatedly.

It is contributed to a retirement account, not paid to you. You claim it by filing Form 8880-A with your tax return and designating an eligible account — an IRA or a workplace plan that agrees to accept it — and the Treasury deposits the match there, where it grows alongside your own contributions. For 2027 contributions the first deposits are expected during 2028, after returns are filed. There is one exception: under section 6433(a)(2)(B), if your match is greater than zero but less than $100, you may elect to take it as a credit on your return instead, which avoids the administrative cost of moving a very small sum into a retirement account. In practice that election matters at the top of the phase-out, where a low applicable percentage on a full $2,000 contribution can produce a match of only $20 to $80.

For most people who qualify, materially better — but not for everyone. The Saver's Credit under IRC section 25B is nonrefundable, meaning it can only reduce your federal tax to zero and any excess is lost. That is a serious limitation for exactly the low-income savers it targets, many of whom owe little or no federal income tax and therefore received nothing from it. The Saver's Match is paid regardless of your tax liability, so it reaches those savers. Its rate structure is also flatter: the Saver's Credit steps down 50% to 20% to 10% to nothing across narrow income bands, so a single dollar of extra income could cut a credit sharply, whereas the match tapers point by point. The trade-off is liquidity — a credit reduces the tax you pay now, whereas the match is locked in a retirement account under normal early-withdrawal rules.