CalcStack — free, instant, no signup. The interactive calculator loads automatically.
The government matches your retirement savings — but $1 over the line cuts the match by more than half.
The saver's credit is a direct tax credit of 50%, 20%, or 10% on your first $2,000 of retirement contributions ($4,000 for couples) — a government match worth up to $1,000 per person. But the rates are cliffs, not phase-outs: a joint couple at $48,500 AGI gets the 50% rate; at $48,501 the credit drops from $2,000 to $800 on the same contributions. And 2026 is the last year in this form — SECURE 2.0 replaces it with the refundable Saver's Match in 2027. This calculator gives your exact tier, the credit after the nonrefundable cap, and your cliff exposure.
Lower- and moderate-income savers use it to claim the government match most people never file for — up to $1,000 per person — and to see the rate cliffs: $1 of AGI over $48,500 joint cuts a couple's credit from $2,000 to $800, which makes the pre-tax contribution that pulls AGI back under worth double.
50% rate up to $24,250 single / $36,375 head of household / $48,500 joint; 20% to $26,250 / $39,375 / $52,500; 10% to $40,250 / $60,375 / $80,500; zero above. Per IRS Notice 2025-67. The credit is 50/20/10% of up to $2,000 per person of contributions — max $1,000 per person, $2,000 per couple — claimed on Form 8880.
The rate applies to your whole eligible contribution, not just the part over a threshold — so crossing a boundary by $1 re-rates everything. Single filer at $24,250 with $2,000 contributed: $1,000 credit. At $24,251: $400. That is $600 gone for one dollar of income — and it works in reverse: a $1,000 pre-tax contribution that pulls AGI back under a cliff both deducts itself AND restores the higher credit rate.
SECURE 2.0 replaces the credit starting in 2027: instead of a nonrefundable credit on your return, the Treasury pays a 50% match (up to $2,000 of contributions) directly INTO your retirement account — and it is refundable, so low earners with no tax bill finally receive it. One caveat: the match phases out gradually rather than cliffing, but 2026 is the last chance at the 50% credit up to $1,000/person as a lump-sum tax reduction. ABLE contributions keep a saver's credit permanently.