Updated July 28, 2026. Quick answer: It is 150% of the catch-up amount in effect for 2024 — a frozen base year — not 150% of the current year’s catch-up. That is why the figure did not move for 2026 even though the ordinary catch-up did. It applies at ages 60, 61, 62 and 63 only, and drops back to the ordinary catch-up at 64.
Read the formula, not the summary
IRC §414(v)(2)(E)(i) sets the amount as the greater of a floor or “an amount equal to 150 percent of the dollar amount which would be in effect under such clause for 2024”. The year in that sentence is fixed. The figure it produced has since become an indexed amount in its own right, adjusted under §415(d) — but it is no longer tied to whatever the regular catch-up happens to be this year.
This is the part that is widely reported wrong. A very large amount of published guidance describes the enhanced catch-up as “150% of the regular catch-up.” Under that reading the number would rise whenever the ordinary catch-up rises. It did not for 2026 — the ordinary catch-up increased and the enhanced figure stayed exactly where it was. If a page tells you the two move together, it is describing a formula the statute does not contain.
The age window is narrow and it closes
| Age at year end | Which catch-up applies |
|---|---|
| Under 50 | None |
| 50–59 | Ordinary catch-up |
| 60, 61, 62, 63 | Enhanced |
| 64 and over | Back to the ordinary catch-up |
The statute frames it as someone who “would attain age 60 but would not attain age 64 before the close of the taxable year.” Four years, then it ends. For an owner planning a retirement date, those four years are worth scheduling around.
Catch-up contributions of either kind sit outside the annual additions limit — IRC §414(v)(3)(A)(i) says they are not subject to the limitation in §415(c). That is what makes them worth more than their face value.
Whether you can make these on a pre-tax basis is a separate question with a live deadline — see the Roth catch-up requirement.
Every dollar limit in this area is indexed and changes annually. The figures printed in the Code itself — $40,000 for the defined-contribution limit, $160,000 for the defined-benefit limit, $15,000 for elective deferrals — are 2001 and 2005 base amounts that will never be updated in the statute; IRC §415(d) and §402(g)(4) do the adjusting. Get the current year’s figures from the IRS cost-of-living notice for that year rather than from any article, including this one. Nothing on this page states a dollar amount for that reason.
Sources
IRC §414(v)(1), (v)(2)(B), (v)(2)(C), (v)(2)(E) and (v)(3); §414(v)(7) (the Roth catch-up requirement) and (v)(7)(E) (its indexing); §402(g)(1) and (g)(4); IRS Notice 2023-62 (the administrative transition period); T.D. 10033, final regulations, Internal Revenue Bulletin 2025-40. All read July 2026.
This states what the cited authority says. It is not tax advice, and retirement-plan design turns on facts about your business and your other entities that no page can see. Every dollar limit referenced here is indexed and changes annually.