Clear Money Guide
Guide and tool overview
See the questions covered here, then open the interactive utility.
Comparison tables scroll horizontally on smaller screens.
2026 edition · figures cited to Rev. Proc. 2025-32 and the Federal Register · the series: state taxes on conversions · the Medicare IRMAA cliffs.
Updated July 25, 2026. Quick answer: Brokers charge $0 to convert — the IRS is the fee. A conversion is taxed as ordinary income in the year you convert, at 2026 rates of 10%–37%, stacked on top of your other income. The full cost has four layers most calculators skip: the federal bracket-fill (calculator below), your state’s tax (twelve states charge $0), the Medicare IRMAA cliff that lands two years later, and phase-out clawbacks like the new senior deduction. Worked example: a married couple with $120,000 of taxable income converting $100,000 owes about $22,172 federal (22.2% effective) — before the state and Medicare layers.
The “$153,000 conversion window” myth (dated correction, verified on-page July 25, 2026)
A page-one article currently tells readers earning above $153,000 that their “Roth conversion window just closed.” That confuses two different rules: $153,000 is where the 2026 Roth contribution phase-out begins for single filers (IRS Notice 2025-67; the range runs to $168,000) — conversions have had no income limit since 2010, when TIPRA (P.L. 109-222, §512) struck the old $100,000-MAGI cap from the pre-2010 §408A(c)(3)(B). Anyone at any income can convert any amount. That is precisely why high earners use the strategy.
Do brokers charge conversion fees?
No — a conversion is an internal transfer, and the major custodians publicly list no transaction fee for it (as of July 2026):
| Custodian | Fee to convert |
|---|---|
| Fidelity | $0 |
| Charles Schwab | $0 |
| Vanguard | $0 |
| TSP (in-plan) | $0 |
Always confirm on your custodian’s current fee schedule; fund-level expenses continue as normal. The real cost is the tax below.
The 2026 federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32)
Single
| Rate | 2026 taxable income |
|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $12,400 |
| 12% | $12,400 – $50,400 |
| 22% | $50,400 – $105,700 |
| 24% | $105,700 – $201,775 |
| 32% | $201,775 – $256,225 |
| 35% | $256,225 – $640,600 |
| 37% | Over $640,600 |
Married filing jointly
| Rate | 2026 taxable income |
|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $24,800 |
| 12% | $24,800 – $100,800 |
| 22% | $100,800 – $211,400 |
| 24% | $211,400 – $403,550 |
| 32% | $403,550 – $512,450 |
| 35% | $512,450 – $768,700 |
| 37% | Over $768,700 |
Compute your conversion’s federal cost
2026 conversion tax calculator (federal)
How the tax actually works (and the withholding trap)
The converted amount is ordinary income in the year of the distribution — and the 10% early-withdrawal penalty does not apply to the conversion itself at any age. The trap is withholding: any amount withheld for taxes never reaches the Roth, so it counts as a plain distribution — taxable, and penalized 10% if you’re under 59½. The rule that follows: pay the conversion tax from money outside the IRA, convert 100 cents on the dollar. Two separate five-year clocks apply afterward: each conversion carries its own five-year clock for the 10% recapture if you withdraw converted principal before 59½ (IRC §408A(d)(3)(F)), and a separate once-ever clock governs when earnings become qualified (§408A(d)(2)). If you hold non-deductible basis in any traditional IRA, the pro-rata rule taxes each converted dollar proportionally — you cannot convert only the after-tax slice.
Price the conversion before you make it
A conversion cannot be undone once it is done, so it is worth having someone model the bracket it fills, the knock-on effects on your other income and how long the money has to compound before you settle on an amount.
Before you start, what actually happens. The form is run by Kapitalwise, our advisor-matching partner. Kapitalwise sends your details to advisers who pay for the introduction, so expect calls and texts. Clear Money Guide is paid when you submit the form, whether or not you ever hire anyone. This is free to you and there is no obligation to hire anyone.
The Kapitalwise form opens here. You stay on this page.
What happens when you press the button
It asks about nine questions (age, investable assets, location), then your name, email and phone number, and verifies the phone by text. Nothing loads and nothing reaches Kapitalwise until you press the button. Submitting the form does not guarantee an adviser or a match. This matching form is not tax or legal advice.
The NIIT wrinkle almost everyone states wrong
Conversion income is excluded from net investment income (IRC §1411(c)(5); Treas. Reg. §1.1411-8) — the conversion itself is never hit with the 3.8% surtax. But it raises your MAGI, and the NIIT thresholds ($200,000 single / $250,000 joint) are MAGI tests: a large conversion can drag your other dividends, interest, and capital gains over the line. Coverage saying conversions are “subject to NIIT” and coverage saying they’re “NIIT-free” are each half right.
The deadline is December 31 — not Tax Day
A conversion counts in the calendar year the money leaves the traditional IRA (Treas. Reg. §1.408A-4, Q&A-7) — there is no April extension and, since 2018, no recharacterization do-over. Custodians impose their own year-end processing cutoffs, so in practice the safe deadline is mid-December. This is why conversion searches spike every November — and why the cheapest planning happens in the summer.
The other two layers
State: twelve states tax a conversion at $0 — nine with no income tax plus Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Mississippi by explicit rule — and Iowa joins them at 55+. The full statute-cited table: does your state tax Roth conversions? Medicare: if you’re 63 or older, conversion income can raise your premiums two years later, and the thresholds are cliffs — $1 over costs the full tier. Tables and a cliff checker: Roth conversions and IRMAA.
Deciding whether to do it at all
The cost side is mechanical; the decision is comparative — today’s known rate versus tomorrow’s expected one. Our decision guide works through when conversions genuinely pay: is a Roth conversion worth it in 2026? For a personalized multi-year sequencing plan:
Cite or share this page
Suggested citation: Clear Money Guide, “Roth Conversion Taxes in 2026,” clearmoneyguide.com/roth-conversion-taxes/. Free to cite with attribution and a link. Figures verified July 25, 2026 against Rev. Proc. 2025-32, IRS Notice 2025-67, and the Federal Register.
Primary sources
Run your own numbers. Roth conversion guardrail estimator — find the bracket ceiling for this year.
Do not know your bracket cap? The bracket calculator derives it from the 2026 IRS tables for all four filing statuses — it returns the room you have to the top of your current bracket, and the cost of filling every bracket above it.