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The IRS has begun notifying some taxpayers who may be eligible for new retirement contributions starting next year.
The upcoming Savers Match program, authorized by the Secure 2.0 Retirement Act of 2022, will provide income-qualified retirement savers with annual contributions worth up to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for joint filers, starting in tax year 2027.
According to a recent post on the IRS website, the agency sent CP321J notices to taxpayers who claimed the saver’s deduction (which the Saver’s Match replaces) on their 2025 tax returns or whose 2025 income was within the qualifying range. The IRS did not respond to CNBC’s email asking how many taxpayers have received notices.
This benefit is available whether a worker saves through a workplace plan such as a 401(k) or in a personal retirement account. The IRS says people will use the new Form 8880-A to claim the Saver’s Match when they file their 2027 tax returns in 2028.
Even before the Savers Match goes into effect, low- and moderate-income retirement savers can continue to take advantage of the Savers Credit through the 2026 tax year. It’s also worth up to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for joint filers contributing to a retirement account, depending on their income. However, this is a non-refundable tax credit. This means that instead of incurring a refund, you can only reduce your tax bill to $0.
“Saver’s match is very likely to be more effective than saver’s credit,” says Stephen Rohr, assistant professor at Washington University’s St. Louis Brown School and director of research at the Center for Social Development. “The saver credit never reached taxpayers on a large scale.”
In addition to low awareness of the credit, Rohr said, “low-income households, such as those eligible for the savers credit, typically pay little or no taxes, so they receive minimal benefit from reducing their tax liability.”
How Sabers Match Works
The new Saver’s Match is part of a broader effort underway to help workers save for retirement. An estimated 53.7 million full-time and part-time private sector workers between the ages of 18 and 65 lack access to employer-based retirement plans, according to a 2025 study by the Economic Innovation Group, a nonpartisan public policy organization.
Under the Saver’s Match program, single filers with annual modified adjusted gross income up to $20,500 or joint filers with annual modified adjusted gross income up to $41,000 can qualify for a government match of 50% of their retirement contributions up to $2,000, with a maximum match of $1,000 per year per person. Individual filers with annual modified adjusted gross income between $20,501 and $35,499 are eligible for reduced matching contributions, as are joint filers with annual modified adjusted gross income between $41,001 and $70,999.
Other qualifications include being at least 18 years of age, not being a student or dependent of another person, and generally being a U.S. resident for tax purposes. You must also make qualified retirement contributions.
Complications still need to be resolved
However, there are some issues that need to be resolved.
For example, contributions to a Roth IRA count toward eligibility, but those accounts can’t receive a match. That means workers who save via Roth, including nearly everyone enrolled in the state-run automatic IRA program, will need a traditional account to receive the match, experts say.
A joint Treasury and IRS notice issued on August 7 indicates that the Treasury and IRS are considering a “conduit” traditional IRA that receives a savers match and transfers it to a Roth, which would be a taxable conversion. The public has until October 5 to submit comments on the notice.
Shai Akabas, vice president for economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center think tank, said the simpler the program, the better it would be for taxpayers.
“From a tax form perspective, what people actually need to fill out to claim a match, what type of account the match goes to, and how that match is treated for tax purposes are going to be important factors here as well,” Akabas said.
Additionally, workplace retirement plans and IRA providers are not required to directly accept Saver’s Match deposits, according to the notice.
The Plan Sponsor Council of America, an industry group, surveyed plan members about the program in August and found that out of 125 responses, only three said they would accept a federal match.
A further 45 people said they were considering it, and 57 said they were not considering it. Some in the latter group said employees were not eligible because of their high incomes.
The remaining 20 people surveyed said they were unfamiliar with the program.
A new website, TrumpIRA.gov, is scheduled to launch on January 1 to help workers compare and register IRAs and, if eligible, collect a saver’s match at distribution.
