Modified adjusted gross income

 

Modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) adds certain amounts to your adjusted gross income (AGI).

MAGI determines:

  • If you qualify for certain government programs or tax benefits (including credits, deductions and exclusions)
  • How much you may contribute to certain accounts (including retirement, investment and health savings) and how much of these contributions you can deduct on your return
  • Whether you owe certain taxes like the net investment income tax

How to calculate modified adjusted gross income

You can use tax software or calculate MAGI yourself:

  1. Add or subtract the items listed for the specific tax benefit (credit or tax advantaged account contribution) you’re requesting
  2. Add that amount to your AGI (from line 11 of Form 1040) (or subtract if it’s negative)
  3. Use that MAGI amount to see if you qualify for that specific benefit only
  4. If you need to calculate MAGI for a different benefit, repeat steps 1 to 3 for that one

Example

Items required to take a specific credit, contribute to an account, or owe a tax total $1,750.

AGI is $40,000.

Add both amounts together ($1,750+$40,000).

MAGI is $41,750.

If you don’t have your AGI, you can find it in your Online Account or by requesting a free tax return transcript by mail.

Items to add (or subtract)

The specific items and how to calculate them depend on what the MAGI is for:

Qualifying MAGI for the Clean Vehicle Credit available for vehicles purchased through Sept. 30, 2024

For 2024, the amount of the child tax credit you can take is reduced if your MAGI is more than $200,000 ($400,000 if you are married and filing jointly). See if you qualify for the CTC.

If you still need to calculate your MAGI, add to your AGI:

  • Income you received from your home territory and excluded because you were a resident of American Samoa (Form 4563, line 15) or Puerto Rico (see Publication 570 and Publication 1321 PDF)
  • Foreign earned income and housing excluded from your income – Form 2555, line 45
  • Foreign housing deduction –Form 2555, line 50

Related

Lifetime learning credit (LLC) and American opportunity tax credit (AOTC) (Form 8863)

For 2024 both education credits are gradually reduced to zero if your MAGI is between $80,000 and $90,000, or between $160,000 and $180,000 if you file jointly with your spouse.

See if you qualify for an education credit.

If you still need to calculate your MAGI, add to your AGI:

  • Income you received from your home territory and excluded because you were a resident of American Samoa (Form 4563, line 15) or Puerto Rico (see Publication 570 and Publication 1321 PDF)
  • Foreign earned income and housing excluded from your income – Form 2555, line 45
  • Foreign housing deduction – Form 2555, line 50

Student loan interest deduction

For tax year 2024 you can deduct up to $2500 of student loan interest from your taxable income, and you do not need to itemize deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040) to receive the deduction. The limit was gradually reduced to zero if your MAGI calculated for this deduction was between $80,000 and $95,000, or between $165,000 and $195,000 if you were married and filing jointly. You can check your eligibility online with our calculator.

Start with your AGI (Line 11 on Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR). Be sure you haven’t already included a student loan interest deduction amount from Schedule 1, line 21. Then for Form 1040-NR filers, the line 11 amount is also your MAGI. Otherwise, to get your MAGI, add:

  • Income you received from your home territory and excluded because you were a resident of American Samoa (Form 4563, line 15) or Puerto Rico (see Publication 570 and Publication 1321 PDF)
  • Foreign earned income and housing excluded from your income (Form 2555, line 45)
  • Foreign housing deduction (Form 2555, line 50)

For 2024, if your MAGI is below $80K ($165K if married filing jointly), you can deduct the amount of student loan interest you paid, but your deduction can’t exceed $2,500 even if you paid more than $2,500 of student loan interest.

As explained in Worksheet 4-1 of Publication 970, if your MAGI is within the phaseout range ($80K-95K, or $165K-195K if married filing jointly), then:

  1. Subtract $80,000 from your MAGI (or subtract $165,000 if married filing jointly)
  2. Divide the result from step 1 by $15,000 (or by $30,000 if married filing jointly); if the result is greater than1, then replace it with 1
  3. Multiply the result from step 2 by the total student loan interest you paid; if you paid more than $2,500 in student loan interest then multiply the result from step 2 by $2,500
  4. Subtract the result from step 3 from the lesser of $2,500 or the amount of student loan interest you paid

The end result in Step 4 is the most student loan interest you can deduct with your MAGI.

If your MAGI is above the phaseout range, you can’t deduct your student loan interest. 

Coverdell education savings account (ESA)

Add to your AGI:

  • Student loan interest deduction (Form 1040 Schedule 1 PDF, line 21)
  • Employer-provided adoption benefits excluded from income (Form 8839, line 28 minus any positive amount on line 29)
  • Income you received from your home territory and excluded because you were a resident of American Samoa (Form 4563, line 15) or Puerto Rico (see Publication 570 and Publication 1321 PDF)
  • Foreign earned income and housing excluded from your income – Form 2555, line 45
  • Foreign housing deduction –Form 2555, line 50

In 2024 you could generally contribute to a Coverdell ESA if your MAGI was under $110,000 ($220,000 if married filing jointly). However, your maximum contribution of $2000 per beneficiary would be gradually reduced if your MAGI was between $95,000 and $110,000 (between $190,000 and $220,000 for joint returns).

Related

Publication 970: Tax Benefits for Education

You may qualify for the premium tax credit (PTC) if you were covered for at least a month by a health insurance plan purchased through a marketplace like healthcare.gov or a similar state marketplace. Qualifying for this credit depends on how your MAGI compares with the federal poverty line for someone in your state with your family size.

See if you qualify for the premium tax credit.

If you still need to calculate your MAGI, add to your AGI:

If you file Form 8814, Parents’ Election to Report Child’s Interest and Dividends, or have dependents who are required to file a tax return, you will also need to separately calculate the MAGI for those dependents’ excluded income in these categories.

Related

Instructions for Form 8962, Premium Tax Credit (PTC) PDF

Traditional individual retirement account (IRA) contributions

Determine your MAGI by adding the following to your AGI:

Social security recipients contributing to IRAs calculate MAGI differently (See Publication 590-A, Appendix B.)

For 2024: If you’re covered by a retirement plan at work, your eligibility to deduct IRA contributions gets gradually reduced for MAGI in the following ranges:

  • Married filing jointly or qualifying surviving spouse: $123,001–$143,000
  • Single or head of household: $77,001–$87,000
  • Married filing separately: $0 to $10,000

If you’re not covered by a retirement plan at work but you’re married and your spouse has a retirement plan at work, your MAGI still limits the amount of IRA contribution you can deduct. Filing separately in 2024, the deduction is gradually reduced for MAGI between $0 and $10,000. Filing jointly, it is gradually reduced for MAGI between $230,000 and $240,000. Otherwise, your MAGI does not apply to the calculation and you can take the full contribution deduction.

Regardless of your MAGI, you can still contribute to an IRA up to the maximum limit (which includes any Roth IRA contributions). You just can’t deduct any traditional IRA amount above the limit imposed by your MAGI. When filing your return, report on Form 8606 any contribution that exceeds the deductible limit.

Roth IRA contributions

Determine your MAGI by doing the following to your AGI:

Add:

Subtract:

For 2024: You may contribute to a Roth IRA if you have taxable compensation (employment or self-employment portion of taxable income), and, as determined by your filing status, your MAGI is less than:

  • Married filing jointly – $240,000
  • Married filing separately – $10,000
  • All others – $161,000

If your MAGI is more than the annual income limit for your filing status, you may be able to refigure your AGI (for Roth contribution calculations only) using the procedures in the note at the end of Worksheet 2-1 of Publication 590-A.

Related

Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs), Publication 590-A

Some of your Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits may be taxable if the rest of your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), excluding certain deductions and adding back half of these benefits, exceeds a base amount. In 2024 this base amount was $25,000, or $32,000 if you were married and filing jointly. You can find out online how much of your benefits is taxable. The online calculation is based on Worksheet 1 in Publication 915, Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits. You can also use the Social Security Benefits Worksheet in the Instructions for Form 1040 (and Form 1040-SR) but be aware that exceptions may apply, as explained elsewhere in those instructions.

You can exclude from your income adoption expenses paid by your employer and also take a credit for adoption expenses that exceed the amount excluded. But you can’t claim both an exclusion and a credit for the same expenses. In 2024, the maximum credit and exclusion amounts were $16,810 per eligible child for each benefit. The benefits were gradually decreased to zero for modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) between $252,150 and $292,150.

You can determine your eligibility online for the credit or exclusion or both.

If you still need to calculate your MAGI for adoption expenses, the calculation differs depending on whether you are taking the credit or the exclusion of employer-paid expenses. For the credit (line 7 of Form 8839), start with your AGI from line 11 of your 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR.

Add:

To exclude expenses paid by your employer, the formula is more complicated. You should use the Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) Worksheet for Line 23 of the instructions for Form 8839.

Use MAGI to see if you owe this tax.

Add to your AGI:

  • Foreign earned income excluded from your income (Form 2555, line 42)
  • Deductions resulting from having foreign earned income (Form 2555, line 44)
  • If you’re a beneficiary of an estate or trust, any amount reported to you on Schedule K-1 (Form 1041) box 14 code H (if negative, discuss with the trust before subtracting)

Add or subtract adjustments to gain or loss on the disposition of the following foreign investments:

  • Controlled foreign corporation (CFC) or qualified electing fund (QEF)
  • Interest in a domestic partnership or S corporation that holds a CFC or QEF

For controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) and passive foreign investment companies (PFICs) including QEFs, also add certain other inclusions, distributions, gains treated as distributions and investment interest expenses (Form 8960, Line 13).

If your MAGI is greater than the threshold amount for your filing status (see instructions for Form 8960 Line 14), attach to your return Form 8960, Net Investment Income Tax Individuals, Estates, and Trusts.

Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 21-Oct-2025