Health FSA limits: 2026 (2027 not yet announced)
Three numbers, one revenue procedure, and an honest blank where the 2027 figures will go.
Figures verified · next scheduled change (the IRS revenue procedure for 2027)
| Scale | $0 to $3,400 |
|---|---|
| Filled to | $680 |
| forfeited if unspent by the deadline | $680 – $3,400 |
| carries into 2027 | $680 |
| 2026 limit | $3,400 |
The 2026 figures
| Limit | Plan year beginning in 2026 | 2025 superseded | Set by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health FSA salary-reduction limit | $3,400 | $3,300 | Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (issued 2025-10-09) |
| Maximum carryover into the next plan year | $680 | $660 | Rev. Proc. 2025-32 |
| Dependent-care FSA exclusion limit | $7,500 ($3,750 if married filing separately) | $5,000 ($2,500 if married filing separately) | P.L. 119-21 §70404, amending IRC §129(a)(2)(A) (govinfo) |
| Maximum grace period a plan may offer | 2½ months — the 15th day of the 3rd month after the plan year ends | unchanged | IRS Notice 2005-42 / Prop. Treas. Reg. §1.125-1(e) |
| Run-out period (deadline to submit claims) | Set by your plan — often 60–90 days after the plan year ends | unchanged | IRS Publication 969 — health FSAs (the IRS sets no run-out maximum) |
The 2025 column is history, kept so a figure you remember can be identified rather than mistaken for the current one. The 2024 carryover maximum was $640.
2027: not yet announced
Not yet announced — expected October–November 2026. The IRS publishes the next year’s health FSA salary-reduction and carryover limits in its annual inflation-adjustment revenue procedure. The 2026 figures came in Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (issued 2025-10-09). Until the 2027 revenue procedure is published there is no 2027 health FSA limit and no 2027 carryover maximum — only estimates made by people outside the IRS.
Those estimates are usually close, because the adjustment is mechanical, and they are still not the figure. An election you make during open enrollment in the autumn of 2026 is governed by the number in the revenue procedure, not by the number in an article written before it. This page will carry the real figures, with the document number, on the day they land; the money calendar tracks the window.
What is not waiting on the IRS: the dependent-care limit ($7,500 ($3,750 if married filing separately)) is statutory and un-indexed, the maximum grace period is a regulation, and the run-out period has never been an IRS rule at all.
What the limits do not tell you
- The limit is a ceiling on what you may elect, not a description of your plan. Employers routinely set a lower maximum election.
- A carryover is optional. A plan may offer one, offer a grace period instead, or offer neither — and a dependent-care FSA may never offer a carryover.
- Carried-over money does not reduce the following year’s election limit. It is added to whatever you elect.
- The deadline your money actually dies on comes from your plan document, not from this table. Work out your own dates.
Questions
What is the health FSA contribution limit for 2026?
$3,400 in salary reductions for a plan year beginning in 2026, announced in Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (issued 2025-10-09). The maximum carryover into the following plan year is $680.
When will the 2027 health FSA limits be announced?
Not yet announced — expected October–November 2026. The IRS publishes the next year's health FSA salary-reduction and carryover limits in its annual inflation-adjustment revenue procedure; the 2026 figures arrived on October 9, 2025. Dollar figures for 2027 circulating before that revenue procedure are projections, not IRS numbers, and are not published here.
Is the carryover limit always 20% of the contribution limit?
That is how the IRS has indexed it: the maximum carryover is set at 20% of the salary-reduction limit and rounded. For 2026 that is $680 against $3,400. Your employer may set a lower carryover, or offer none at all — the statute permits a plan to be less generous, never more.
Does the dependent-care FSA limit rise with inflation?
No. Dependent-care FSA exclusion limit from 2026 — permanent and not inflation-indexed. It stays at $7,500 ($3,750 if married filing separately) until Congress changes it, which is why there is no separate figure to wait for each autumn.
Do employer contributions count against the limit?
The limit is on salary reductions — the money you elect out of your own pay. Employer non-elective contributions generally sit outside it, subject to the cafeteria-plan rules your plan document sets out. Confirm the treatment with your plan administrator before relying on it.
Sources
- Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (issued 2025-10-09) — the 2026 health FSA limit and carryover maximum. Verified 2026-09-06.
- P.L. 119-21 §70404, amending IRC §129(a)(2)(A) (govinfo) — the dependent-care exclusion. Verified 2026-09-07.
- IRS Notice 2005-42 / Prop. Treas. Reg. §1.125-1(e) — the maximum grace period. Verified 2026-09-06.
- IRS Notice 2013-71 — a carryover or a grace period, never both. Verified 2026-09-06.
- IRS Publication 969 — health FSAs (the IRS sets no run-out maximum) — the run-out period is set by the plan. Verified 2026-09-06.
Information, not advice. Your plan document governs — confirm with your Summary Plan Description, HR or your FSA administrator.