Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) in 2026: Rules & Guide

This article is for educational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or financial advice. Tax rules change periodically, always check current IRS guidance or consult a qualified tax professional.

A Required Minimum Distribution is the amount the IRS forces you to pull out of your retirement accounts each year once you reach a certain age. The government gave you a tax break when you put the money in. The RMD is how it collects on that deal.

The 2026 rules are settled and the numbers are locked in. Here is who has to take one, how to calculate it, when it is due, and how to keep the tax bill from surprising you.

What Is a Required Minimum Distribution (and Who Has to Take One in 2026)?

An RMD applies to tax-deferred retirement accounts, the kind where you deducted contributions or grew the money tax-free for decades. That includes:

Traditional IRAs
SEP and SIMPLE IRAs
Traditional 401(k), 403(b), and most 457(b) plans

Roth IRAs are different. The original owner never has to take an RMD during their lifetime. And starting in 2024, designated Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b) accounts are also exempt from lifetime RMDs, a change made by the SECURE 2.0 Act. If you were taking RMDs from a Roth 401(k) before, you can stop.

The trigger is your age. Under SECURE 2.0, the RMD start age is 73 for anyone born between 1951 and 1959. If you were born in 1960 or later, your start age is 75. The old age-72 and age-70½ rules no longer apply to people reaching those ages now.

Keep in mind that an RMD is never an isolated event. Every dollar you withdraw lands on your Form 1040 as ordinary income. It raises your adjusted gross income, can push more of your Social Security into the taxable column, and may affect your Medicare premiums. That ripple is why it pays to model the withdrawal before you take it.

How to Calculate Your 2026 RMD (With Example)

The formula is short. Take your account balance as of December 31, 2025, and divide it by a life-expectancy factor from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table.

RMD = Prior-year-end balance ÷ Uniform Lifetime Table factor

Here are the factors for the first few RMD ages:

2026 Uniform Lifetime Table factors (selected ages)
Age	Factor
73	26.5
74	25.5
75	24.6
76	23.7

A quick warning on accuracy: 27.4 is the factor for age 72, and some sources still misquote it for age 73. The correct factor at age 73 is 26.5. Using the wrong one understates your required withdrawal and can leave you exposed to a penalty.

Worked example at age 73

Suppose you turn 73 in 2026 and your traditional IRA held $500,000 on December 31, 2025.

$500,000 ÷ 26.5 = $18,867.92

That $18,867.92 is the minimum you must withdraw during 2026. You can always take more. You just cannot take less.

If you have a spouse who is more than 10 years younger than you and is your sole beneficiary, you use a different table, the Joint Life and Last Survivor Expectancy Table, which produces a larger factor and a smaller RMD. For everyone else, the Uniform Lifetime Table is the one to use.

Want to see how the withdrawal changes your refund or balance due before you pull the trigger? You can build a 2026 return around it in Tax47 and watch the estimate update as the income flows in. Our tools hub also has calculators for the surrounding pieces of the return.

2026 RMD Deadlines: April 1 vs. December 31

There are two deadlines, and mixing them up is a common and expensive mistake.

Your first RMD has a grace period. You can wait until April 1 of the year after you turn 73. So if you reach 73 in 2026, you have until April 1, 2027 to take your 2026 distribution.

Every RMD after the first is due by December 31 of that year. No grace period.

Here is the trap. If you delay your first RMD into the following April, you still owe a second RMD by December 31 of that same year, for the new tax year. That means two taxable distributions stacked into one year, which can push you into a higher bracket and inflate your AGI. For many retirees it is cheaper to just take the first RMD in the year you turn 73 and keep the income spread out.

What Happens If You Miss an RMD? The Excise Tax

Skipping an RMD, or taking out less than required, carries a penalty called the excise tax. It is 25% of the shortfall, the amount you should have withdrawn but did not.

There is relief built in. If you correct the mistake promptly, generally within a two-year correction window, the penalty drops to 10%. You take the missed amount out, then report and pay the excise tax on Form 5329.

The IRS can also waive the penalty entirely if the shortfall was due to a reasonable error and you are taking steps to fix it. You request the waiver by filing Form 5329 with a short statement explaining what happened and showing that you have since withdrawn the missed amount. Many waivers are granted, but you have to ask.

How RMDs Are Taxed, and Smart Ways to Lower the Bill

An RMD from a traditional account is taxed as ordinary income at your regular marginal rate. It is not a special low rate like long-term capital gains. (For a refresher on where your income lands, see our guide to the 2026 federal tax brackets.)

Because the RMD raises your AGI, it can do more than just add its own tax:

It can make a larger share of your Social Security benefits taxable.
It can raise your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums through IRMAA.
It can trigger an underpayment penalty if you did not pay in enough tax during the year.

A few moves can soften the impact.

Use a Qualified Charitable Distribution

If you give to charity, a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) is one of the cleanest tax breaks available to retirees. You direct money straight from your IRA to a qualified charity. It counts toward your RMD, and it is excluded from your taxable income entirely, which beats taking the RMD and then deducting a donation.

For 2026, the QCD limit is $111,000 per individual, up from $108,000 in 2025. A one-time QCD to a split-interest entity, such as a charitable gift annuity, is capped at $55,000. You must be at least 70½ to use a QCD.

Set up withholding

You can have federal tax withheld directly from your RMD. There is a planning quirk worth knowing: withholding is treated as if it were paid evenly across the year, even if it all comes out of a December distribution. That makes it a handy way to cure an underpayment timing problem and avoid the estimated-tax penalty.

Special Situations: Still Working, Inherited IRAs, Multiple Accounts

A few common scenarios change the standard rules.

The still-working exception

If you are still employed past your RMD age, you may be able to delay RMDs from your current employer’s 401(k) until you actually retire. Two conditions apply: you must still be working for that employer, and you cannot own more than 5% of the company. This exception does not cover IRAs or plans from former employers, which still require RMDs on the normal schedule.

Inherited IRAs and the 10-year rule

If you inherited an IRA as a non-spouse beneficiary, you generally must empty the account by December 31 of the 10th year after the original owner’s death. The IRS finalized a nuance that is now in effect for 2025 and 2026: if the original owner had already started taking RMDs before death, you must also take annual RMDs in years 1 through 9, not just clear the account by year 10. Missing those annual amounts can trigger the same excise tax.

Aggregating across accounts

If you have several IRAs, you can add up the RMDs and take the total from any one of them or any combination. The IRS only cares that the total comes out.

Employer plans work differently. Each 401(k) or 403(b) must satisfy its own RMD separately. You cannot cover a 401(k) RMD by taking extra from an IRA, or use one 401(k) to satisfy another. Keep those buckets straight.

Frequently Asked Questions

At what age do RMDs start in 2026?

Age 73 if you were born between 1951 and 1959, and age 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. The start age was raised by the SECURE 2.0 Act.

How do I calculate my 2026 RMD?

Divide your December 31, 2025 account balance by the Uniform Lifetime Table factor for your age. At age 73 the factor is 26.5, so a $500,000 IRA gives an RMD of $18,867.92.

When is my first RMD due?

Your first RMD is due by April 1 of the year after you turn 73. Every RMD after that is due by December 31. Delaying the first one means taking two distributions in the same year.

What is the penalty for missing an RMD?

A 25% excise tax on the amount you failed to withdraw, reduced to 10% if you correct it within the two-year correction window. You report the shortfall and request a waiver on Form 5329.

Do Roth accounts require RMDs?

Roth IRAs have no RMD for the original owner during their lifetime. Roth 401(k) accounts are also exempt from lifetime RMDs starting in 2024 under the SECURE 2.0 Act.

Can I give my RMD to charity to avoid the tax?

Yes. A Qualified Charitable Distribution of up to $111,000 in 2026, sent directly from your IRA to a qualified charity, counts toward your RMD and is excluded from your taxable income.

Sources & References

IRS — Retirement topics: Required minimum distributions (RMDs) — Start ages, calculation method, and deadlines.
IRS — Retirement plan and IRA RMD FAQs — Excise tax, Roth rules, and the still-working exception.
IRS — Publication 590-B — The Uniform Lifetime Table and Joint Life table.
IRS — Required minimum distributions for IRA beneficiaries — Inherited IRA and 10-year rule.
Kiplinger — Qualified Charitable Distributions — 2026 QCD limit.