Inherited IRA RMD Calculator
Estimate your inherited IRA RMD under the 10-year rule: whether annual withdrawals are required, this year's amount, your year-10 deadline, and the tax.
Inherited IRA RMD Calculator
Inherited IRA Balance
Fair market value of the inherited account on December 31 of last year.
Dates
The year the original owner died sets your 10-year clock.
Distribution year you want to calculate.
Your Age
Your age at the end of the distribution year.
Beneficiary Type
Eligible designated beneficiaries are a surviving spouse, the owner's minor child until 21, a disabled or chronically ill individual, and anyone not more than 10 years younger than the owner.
Required Beginning Date
Had the owner reached their required beginning date? RMD age is 73 for owners born 1951 to 1959 and 75 for owners born 1960 or later, and the required beginning date is April 1 of the year after they reach it. Owners born before 1951 were already past it.
Account Type
A Roth owner is always treated as dying before the required beginning date.
Your Other Income
Wages and everything else taxable this year, before the distribution.
Filing status.
Notes
- You consult the Single Life Table once, at your age in the year after the owner died. Every later year subtracts a whole 1.0 from that starting factor. Going back to the table each year is the most common error and it understates the RMD.
- If you are older than the original owner and the owner died on or after their required beginning date, the denominator is the greater of your life expectancy or the owner's remaining life expectancy. This tool shows the conservative figure.
- A minor child of the owner is an eligible designated beneficiary only until age 21, then switches onto the 10-year clock, so the hard deadline lands at 31.
- There is no 10% early-withdrawal penalty on an inherited IRA distribution at any age. State income tax is not included here.
- Estimates only. This calculator is for educational purposes and is not tax, legal, or financial advice. Inherited-IRA rules turn on facts this tool does not collect. Verify against IRS Publication 590-B or consult a qualified tax professional.
See what this does to your whole return
Tax47 builds your full federal return from real W-2, 1099, and retirement income, so you can watch an inherited IRA distribution move your refund or balance due.
How the inherited IRA 10-year rule works in 2026
The SECURE Act ended the stretch IRA for most non-spouse beneficiaries who inherited after 2019. Instead of drawing the account down over your own lifetime, you have to empty it by December 31 of the tenth year following the year of death. Inherit in 2025 and the account has to be at zero by December 31, 2035.
What stayed unsettled for four years was whether you also owed something in the meantime. The IRS final regulations published in July 2024 (T.D. 10001) answered that, and they apply to distribution calendar years beginning on or after January 1, 2025. The agency had waived the penalty on missed beneficiary distributions for 2021 through 2024. Those waivers are gone, so 2026 is the second year of full enforcement, and some beneficiaries now have two skipped years stacked up behind them.
For the full narrative version of the rules, see the companion guide on the inherited IRA 10-year rule in 2026.
The required beginning date test decides everything
The required beginning date is April 1 of the year after the owner reaches RMD age. Under SECURE 2.0, RMD age is 73 for owners born between 1951 and 1959, and 75 for owners born in 1960 or later. Owners born before 1951 were already past their required beginning date.
It comes down to one fact:
| Owner died | What you owe |
|---|---|
| On or after the required beginning date | Annual RMD in years 1 through 9, plus the account emptied in year 10 |
| Before the required beginning date | No annual RMD, only the year-10 deadline |
An inherited Roth IRA always falls in the second row. Roth IRAs have no lifetime RMDs, so the owner is treated as having died before the required beginning date no matter how old they were. Eligible designated beneficiaries sit outside both rows: they can generally keep taking annual life-expectancy distributions with no 10-year clock at all.
Reading the Single Life Expectancy Table and the subtract-one method
The formula itself is short:
RMD = prior-year December 31 balance / life expectancy factor
The factor comes from the IRS Single Life Expectancy Table (Table I in Publication 590-B, published at 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9(b)). You look it up once, using your age in the first distribution year, which is the calendar year after the owner died. From then on you subtract a whole 1.0 each year. You never return to the table.
Worked example: the owner died in 2025 having already passed their required beginning date. You turn 55 by the end of 2026 and the account was worth $400,000 on December 31, 2025. Your first distribution year is 2026, the age-55 factor is 31.6, and your 2026 RMD is $400,000 divided by 31.6, or about $12,658. In 2027 the factor is 30.6, not a fresh look-up.
That distinction matters more than it looks. A beneficiary who starts at 61 has a factor of 26.2, then 25.2 in the second year, while the table's age-62 row reads 25.4. Re-reading the table each year gives a factor that is too large, an RMD that is too small, and a shortfall exposed to the excise tax.
| Age | Factor | Age | Factor | Age | Factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 60.2 | 47 | 39.0 | 69 | 19.6 |
| 26 | 59.2 | 48 | 38.1 | 70 | 18.8 |
| 27 | 58.2 | 49 | 37.1 | 71 | 18.0 |
| 28 | 57.3 | 50 | 36.2 | 72 | 17.2 |
| 29 | 56.3 | 51 | 35.3 | 73 | 16.4 |
| 30 | 55.3 | 52 | 34.3 | 74 | 15.6 |
| 31 | 54.4 | 53 | 33.4 | 75 | 14.8 |
| 32 | 53.4 | 54 | 32.5 | 76 | 14.1 |
| 33 | 52.5 | 55 | 31.6 | 77 | 13.3 |
| 34 | 51.5 | 56 | 30.6 | 78 | 12.6 |
| 35 | 50.5 | 57 | 29.8 | 79 | 11.9 |
| 36 | 49.6 | 58 | 28.9 | 80 | 11.2 |
| 37 | 48.6 | 59 | 28.0 | 81 | 10.5 |
| 38 | 47.7 | 60 | 27.1 | 82 | 9.9 |
| 39 | 46.7 | 61 | 26.2 | 83 | 9.3 |
| 40 | 45.7 | 62 | 25.4 | 84 | 8.7 |
| 41 | 44.8 | 63 | 24.5 | 85 | 8.1 |
| 42 | 43.8 | 64 | 23.7 | 86 | 7.6 |
| 43 | 42.9 | 65 | 22.9 | 87 | 7.1 |
| 44 | 41.9 | 66 | 22.0 | 88 | 6.6 |
| 45 | 41.0 | 67 | 21.2 | 89 | 6.1 |
| 46 | 40.0 | 68 | 20.4 | 90 | 5.7 |
The full table runs from age 0 to 120 and is reproduced as Appendix B, Table I of IRS Publication 590-B. The repeated values in the 100s and the uneven single-year steps around ages 56 and 61 are correct as published.
What the withdrawal does to your tax bill
A distribution from an inherited traditional IRA is ordinary income in the year you take it. It stacks on top of your wages and everything else, and it is taxed at your marginal rate. There is no 10% early-withdrawal penalty, whatever your age, because inherited-account distributions are excepted from it.
Take the worked example above. A $12,658 distribution on top of $80,000 of wages for a single filer sits entirely inside the 22% band once the standard deduction is applied, so the extra federal tax is roughly $2,785 and you keep about $9,873. Change nothing except the timing and the picture shifts: leave the whole $400,000 until year 10 and that single lump lands on top of one year's income. It crosses several brackets, and a large slice gets taxed at 32% and 35%. Roughly level withdrawals across the window usually cost noticeably less, which is why the calculator shows a level-withdrawal pace beside this year's minimum.
If you miss a required distribution, the excise tax is 25% of the shortfall, cut to 10% if you take the missed amount and correct it within the two-year correction window. You report the shortfall on Form 5329, and you can request a waiver for reasonable cause. If you want the rest of the return around the withdrawal, credits and deductions included, Tax47 assembles it from your actual income documents. You can also compare paths with the RMD calculator, the 401(k) early withdrawal penalty calculator, and the estate tax calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about inherited ira rmd calculator
Do I have to take money out of an inherited IRA every year?
Only if the original owner had already reached their required beginning date when they died. If they had, you owe an annual RMD in years 1 through 9 and must empty the account by year 10. If they died before their required beginning date, you can take nothing until year 10, but you still have to empty it by then. Full background is in the inherited IRA 10-year rule guide.
How do I calculate the RMD on an inherited IRA?
Divide the account's December 31 balance from the prior year by your life expectancy factor from the IRS Single Life Expectancy Table. You look the factor up once, using your age in the year after the owner died, then subtract 1.0 from it every year after that. You never go back to the table.
When exactly does my 10 years end?
December 31 of the year holding the 10th anniversary of the owner's death. Inherit in 2025 and the account has to be at zero by December 31, 2035. The calculator shows your exact deadline and how many distribution years are left.
Who is exempt from the 10-year rule?
Eligible designated beneficiaries: a surviving spouse, the owner's minor child (until age 21), a disabled individual, a chronically ill individual, and anyone not more than 10 years younger than the owner. They can generally stretch distributions over their own life expectancy instead of clearing the account in 10 years.
How much tax will I owe on an inherited IRA withdrawal?
Distributions from an inherited traditional IRA are ordinary income stacked on top of your other income and taxed at your marginal rate. There is no 10% early-withdrawal penalty at any age. This calculator estimates the extra federal tax using the 2026 brackets and standard deduction, and you can check the bracket it lands in with the tax bracket calculator.
What is the penalty if I miss an inherited IRA RMD?
A 25% excise tax on the amount you should have withdrawn, dropping to 10% if you take the missed distribution and correct it within the two-year correction window. You report it on Form 5329 and can request a waiver for reasonable cause.
Does the 10-year rule apply to inherited Roth IRAs?
Yes. The account still has to be emptied within 10 years. But a Roth owner is always treated as having died before the required beginning date, so there are no annual RMDs in years 1 through 9, and qualified withdrawals are tax-free once the account has met its 5-year rule.
Should I spread withdrawals out or wait until year 10?
Spreading them usually costs less tax. A single year-10 lump sum lands entirely on top of that year's income and can push you two brackets higher, while roughly level withdrawals can keep the whole balance taxed at a lower rate. The calculator shows a level-withdrawal pace next to this year's minimum so you can compare, and the Roth IRA conversion calculator uses the same stacking logic for conversions.