IRC Section 401(a)(9): RMD Calculation, Deadlines, and Penalties

Required minimum distribution rules force you to start withdrawing money from most tax-deferred retirement accounts once you reach a set age, and to keep withdrawing a calculated amount every year after that. The trigger age is 73 if you were born between 1951 and 1959, and 75 if you were born in 1960 or later.¹ Miss a distribution or take too little, and the IRS charges an excise tax of up to 25% on the shortfall. The rules cover traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and 457(b) plans.

When You Have to Start Taking Distributions

Your first required distribution is due by your “required beginning date,” which is April 1 of the year after you reach your applicable age. Every RMD after that has a deadline of December 31.

If you turn 73 in 2026, you have until April 1, 2027 to take your first RMD. That grace period sounds helpful, but it hides a trap. Delay the first distribution into the following year and you end up taking two RMDs in the same calendar year: the delayed one plus that year’s regular RMD. The doubled income can push you into a higher tax bracket and drag other benefits along with it, as covered further down.

The Still-Working Exception

If you are still employed at the applicable age and participating in your current employer’s plan, you can postpone RMDs from that plan until April 1 of the year after you actually retire.² Two limits apply: you cannot own 5% or more of the business, and the delay only covers the plan at your current employer.¹

This exception does not apply to IRAs. Traditional IRA RMDs start at the applicable age no matter whether you are still working. Retirement accounts left with former employers also follow the standard schedule.

Roth Accounts Are Exempt

Roth IRAs are not subject to RMDs during the original owner’s lifetime.² Designated Roth accounts inside employer plans (Roth 401(k)s and Roth 403(b)s) used to be subject to RMDs, but SECURE 2.0 eliminated that requirement starting in 2024.¹ Beneficiaries who inherit Roth accounts still face distribution rules.

How the Annual Amount Is Calculated

The formula is simple: take the account’s fair market value on December 31 of the prior year and divide by a life expectancy factor from an IRS table. For your 2026 RMD, use your December 31, 2025 balance.³ The factor shrinks each year as you age, so the percentage you must withdraw creeps up over time.

The Uniform Lifetime Table

Most account owners use the Uniform Lifetime Table, which assumes a hypothetical beneficiary ten years younger than the owner. At age 73 the distribution period is 26.5. At 74 it drops to 24.6. At 80 it is 20.2. Because the table builds in a younger beneficiary, it produces a smaller RMD than the owner’s own life expectancy would.

There is one alternative. If your spouse is the sole beneficiary of the account for the entire year and is more than ten years younger than you, you use the Joint Life and Last Survivor Expectancy Table instead.³ That table uses the actual ages of both spouses and produces an even smaller RMD.

A Worked Example

Say you are 75 and your traditional IRA was worth $500,000 on December 31 of last year. The Uniform Lifetime Table factor at 75 is 24.6. Dividing $500,000 by 24.6 gives an RMD of $20,325.20. That amount must come out by December 31 and lands on your tax return as ordinary income.

When You Have More Than One Account

If you own several traditional IRAs, calculate the RMD for each separately, then add the amounts up and take the total from any one IRA or any combination. The same aggregation rule applies across multiple 403(b) plans.⁴

You cannot cross plan types. A 401(k) RMD must come from that specific 401(k). Extra IRA withdrawals do not cover a 401(k) shortfall, and 403(b) withdrawals do not satisfy an IRA obligation.

What RMDs Do to Medicare and Social Security

Because RMDs count as ordinary income, they can ripple into two places retirees often miss.

Medicare Part B and Part D premiums rise once your modified adjusted gross income crosses set thresholds, through Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts (IRMAA). In 2026 the standard Part B premium is $202.90 per month. Above $109,000 (single) or $218,000 (joint), surcharges run from $81.20 to $487.00 per month on top of that.⁵ IRMAA is based on your return from two years earlier, so a big RMD year hits your premiums on a delay.

Social Security benefits become partially taxable once “provisional income” (half your benefits plus other income, including RMDs) crosses set brackets. For single filers, provisional income between $25,000 and $34,000 makes up to 50% of benefits taxable, and above $34,000 it rises to 85%. For joint filers the brackets are $32,000 to $44,000 (50%) and above $44,000 (85%).⁶ These thresholds have not been adjusted for inflation since they were enacted.

Two Ways to Reduce Your RMD Tax Hit

Qualified Charitable Distributions

A qualified charitable distribution (QCD) moves money straight from your IRA to an eligible charity. The amount counts toward your RMD but is excluded from your taxable income. You have to be at least 70½ to make one, so you can start using this strategy before RMDs even begin.

The 2026 annual QCD limit is $111,000 per person, and married couples can each give up to that amount from their own IRAs.⁷ SECURE 2.0 also added a one-time option to send up to $55,000 of a QCD to a charitable remainder trust or charitable gift annuity.

Because the amount is excluded rather than deducted, it lowers your AGI. That can keep you below IRMAA thresholds and reduce Social Security taxation, benefits you get even if you don’t itemize. Rules to watch: the funds must go directly from the custodian to the charity (not through you first), only traditional IRAs are eligible, and the charity must be a public charity under Section 170(b)(1)(A), which rules out donor-advised funds and private foundations. Your custodian reports the full distribution on Form 1099-R with no special QCD code, so you write “QCD” next to line 4b on Form 1040 to claim the exclusion.

Roth Conversions

Converting traditional IRA money to a Roth IRA before you hit RMD age shrinks the balance that future RMDs will be based on. Roth IRAs have no lifetime RMDs, and future growth is tax-free. The conversion itself is taxable, so the strategy works best in years when your income is relatively low, such as the gap between leaving work and starting Social Security or RMDs.

One limit if you are already at RMD age: you cannot convert the RMD itself. Take the full RMD first, then convert additional amounts from what remains.

What Happens If You Miss an RMD

Failing to take a full RMD triggers an excise tax equal to 25% of the shortfall.⁸ Before SECURE 2.0 the rate was 50%.¹

The Reduced 10% Rate

If you catch the mistake quickly, the rate drops to 10%. To qualify you must take the missed amount and file a return reflecting the correction within a “correction window.” The window closes at the earliest of three events: the IRS mails a notice of deficiency, the IRS assesses the 25% tax, or the end of the second full tax year after the year the penalty was incurred.⁸ A missed 2025 RMD would generally give you until December 31, 2027 to correct it at the 10% rate, assuming the IRS has not contacted you first.

Requesting a Waiver

The IRS can waive the excise tax entirely if the shortfall was due to reasonable error and you are fixing it. Request the waiver by filing Form 5329. Calculate the penalty on the form, write “RC” and the amount you want waived on the dotted line next to line 54, subtract that amount from the total, and attach a letter explaining what happened and what you have done.⁹ The waiver is not automatic. The IRS will contact you if it denies the request.

A Note on Inherited Accounts

The rules above are for original account owners. If you inherit a retirement account, a separate set of rules applies. Most non-spouse individual beneficiaries must empty the account within ten years of the owner’s death, and if the owner had already started RMDs, annual distributions are required in years one through nine as well.¹⁰ Surviving spouses, minor children of the owner, disabled or chronically ill individuals, and people not more than ten years younger than the owner can stretch distributions over their own life expectancy instead.¹¹ Estates, charities, and most trusts face the most restrictive timelines.¹² If you have inherited an account, confirm the specific schedule with the custodian before the October 31 documentation deadline in the year after the owner’s death.

1
Congressional Research Service. Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) Rules for Original Owners of Retirement Accounts
2
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs
3
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
4
Internal Revenue Service. RMD Comparison Chart (IRAs vs. Defined Contribution Plans)
5
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 2026 Medicare Parts A and B Premiums and Deductibles
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 86 – Social Security and Tier 1 Railroad Retirement Benefits
7
Congressional Research Service. Qualified Charitable Distributions from Individual Retirement Accounts
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 4974 – Excise Tax on Certain Accumulations in Qualified Retirement Plans
9
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 5329
10
Internal Revenue Service. Notice 2024-35, Certain Required Minimum Distributions
11
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Beneficiary
12
Internal Revenue Service. Required Minimum Distributions for IRA Beneficiaries