Key Retirement and Tax Numbers for 2025

January 27, 2025
A man and two children are ice skating on a rink.

Every year, the Internal Revenue Service announces cost-of-living adjustments that affect contribution limits for retirement plans and various tax deduction, exclusion, exemption, and threshold amounts. Here are a few of the key adjustments for 2025.

Estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax
  • The annual gift tax exclusion (and annual generation-skipping transfer tax exclusion) for 2025 is $19,000, up from $18,000 in 2024.
  • The gift and estate tax basic exclusion amount (and generation-skipping transfer tax exemption) for 2025 is $13,990,000, up from $13,610,000 in 2024.



Standard deduction

A taxpayer can generally choose to itemize certain deductions or claim a standard deduction on the federal income tax return. In 2025, the standard deduction is:

  • $15,000 (up from $14,600 in 2024) for single filers or married individuals filing separate returns
  • $30,000 (up from $29,200 in 2024) for married joint filers
  • $22,500 (up from $21,900 in 2024) for heads of households


The additional standard deduction amount for the blind and those age 65 or older in 2025 is:

  • $2,000 (up from $1,950 in 2024) for single filers and heads of households
  • $1,600 (up from $1,550 in 2024) for all other filing statuses


Special rules apply for an individual who can be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer.



IRAs

The combined annual limit on contributions to traditional and Roth IRAs is $7,000 in 2025 (the same as in 2024), with individuals age 50 or older able to contribute an additional $1,000. The limit on contributions to a Roth IRA phases out for certain modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) ranges (see table). For individuals who are active participants in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, the deduction for contributions to a traditional IRA also phases out for certain MAGI ranges (see table). The limit on nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA is not subject to phaseout based on MAGI.

A table showing contributions to a Roth IRA and deductible contributions to a traditional IRA.
Employer-sponsored retirement plans
  • Employees who participate in 401(k), 403(b), and most 457 plans can defer up to $23,500 in compensation in 2025 (up from $23,000 in 2024); employees age 50 or older can defer up to an additional $7,500 in 2025 (the same as in 2024), increased to $11,250 in 2025 for ages 60 to 63.
  • Employees participating in a SIMPLE retirement plan can defer up to $16,500 in 2025 (up from $16,000 in 2024), and employees age 50 or older can defer up to an additional $3,500 in 2025 (the same as in 2024), increased to $5,250 in 2025 for ages 60 to 63.


Kiddie tax: child's unearned income

Under the kiddie tax, a child's unearned income above $2,700 in 2025 (up from $2,600 in 2024) is taxed using the parents' tax rates.

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Prepared by Broadridge Advisor Solutions Copyright 2020.

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