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RMD Deadline December 31, 2026 — Required Minimum Distributions, the 25% Penalty, and QCDs

If you're 73 or older, your 2026 required minimum distribution from a traditional IRA or 401(k) is due by December 31, 2026 (April 1, 2027 only for a first RMD). How the IRS figures the amount, the Uniform Lifetime Table divisors, the 25% excise tax (10% if corrected), and the $111,000 QCD limit for 2026.

By Greg, Editor at Finance Maxx. Published · Updated

If you’re 73 or older and have a traditional IRA, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, 401(k), 403(b) or 457(b), your 2026 required minimum distribution (RMD) is due by December 31, 2026. Miss it and the shortfall can be hit with a 25% excise tax. Custodians get busy in December, so the practical deadline is a week or two earlier.

Official sources: IRS Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs, Publication 590-B (Appendix B life expectancy tables), and Notice 2025-67 (2026 QCD limit).

The short version

Question Short answer
Deadline December 31, 2026 for your 2026 RMD
First RMD exception Turned 73 in 2026? You can wait until April 1, 2027, but then you take two RMDs in 2027
Starting age 73 (traditional, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs and workplace plans)
Amount Dec. 31, 2025 balance ÷ IRS life expectancy factor for your 2026 age
Penalty 25% of the amount not taken; 10% if corrected within two years
Roth IRAs No RMD while the owner is alive
QCD limit (2026) $111,000 per person, age 70½+, counts toward the RMD

Who has a 2026 RMD

  • IRA owners age 73+. Traditional, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs require RMDs once you reach 73, even if you’re still working.
  • 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) participants age 73+, unless you’re still working for that employer and the plan lets you delay until the year you retire. The delay doesn’t apply if you own 5% or more of the business, and it never applies to IRAs.
  • Not Roth IRAs or Roth 401(k)s during the owner’s lifetime.
  • Beneficiaries of inherited accounts, including inherited Roth IRAs, follow separate rules (below).

First RMD: the April 1 trap

If you turned 73 in 2026, the IRS lets you delay your first RMD until April 1, 2027. Your 2027 RMD is still due December 31, 2027, so delaying means two taxable withdrawals in 2027. That can push you into a higher bracket, raise the taxable share of your Social Security, or affect Medicare premiums. For many people it’s simpler to take the first one by December 31, 2026.

Everyone else gets no grace period: the 2026 RMD is due December 31, 2026.

How the 2026 amount is figured

For each account: December 31, 2025 balance ÷ the factor for your age on your 2026 birthday. Most owners use Table III (Uniform Lifetime) in Publication 590-B. Use Table II instead only if your spouse is your sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger.

Age in 2026 Table III divisor RMD on a $100,000 balance RMD on a $500,000 balance
73 26.5 $3,774 $18,868
74 25.5 $3,922 $19,608
75 24.6 $4,065 $20,325
76 23.7 $4,219 $21,097
78 22.0 $4,545 $22,727
80 20.2 $4,950 $24,752
85 16.0 $6,250 $31,250
90 12.2 $8,197 $40,984

Divisors are from Publication 590-B Appendix B, Table III; dollar amounts are rounded. Your custodian may calculate the number for you, but the IRS says the account owner is ultimately responsible for taking the right amount.

Example

You’re 75 in 2026 and your traditional IRA was worth $500,000 on December 31, 2025. Your 2026 RMD is $500,000 ÷ 24.6 = $20,325. If you withdrew nothing, the excise tax could be 25% × $20,325 = $5,081, or $2,033 at the 10% rate if you correct it in time.

That $20,325 is also ordinary taxable income on your 2026 return. Add it as other income in the federal tax calculator to see how it changes your 2026 bill and whether your withholding covers it.

One account or each account?

Account type Calculate Withdraw
Traditional / SEP / SIMPLE IRAs Separately for each IRA Total can come from any one or more IRAs
403(b) contracts Separately for each Total can come from any one or more 403(b)s
401(k) and 457(b) plans Separately for each From each plan separately

IRA and 401(k) RMDs can’t cover each other: an extra IRA withdrawal doesn’t satisfy a 401(k) RMD.

Rules that trip people up

  • No credit for extra. Taking more than the minimum in 2026 doesn’t reduce your 2027 RMD.
  • No rollovers. An RMD can’t be rolled into another IRA or plan. Take the RMD before you do a rollover or Roth conversion for the year.
  • It’s taxable. RMDs are taxed as ordinary income, except for any after-tax basis or qualified Roth amounts.
  • Withholding is optional, tax isn’t. If nothing is withheld, you may need an estimated payment. The fourth-quarter 2026 estimated tax payment is due January 15, 2027.

Missed it? The 25% excise tax and how to fix it

The IRS says the amount not withdrawn by the deadline may be subject to a 25% excise tax, 10% if timely corrected within two years. To fix it:

  1. Take the missed amount as soon as you notice.
  2. File Form 5329 with your return for the year the RMD was missed.
  3. Ask for a waiver. The IRS can waive the tax if the shortfall was due to reasonable error and you’re taking reasonable steps to fix it. Attach a letter of explanation as the Form 5329 instructions describe.

Qualified charitable distributions: $111,000 for 2026

If you’re at least 70½, you can have your IRA custodian send money directly to an eligible charity as a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). A QCD counts toward your RMD and is left out of taxable income, which can beat taking the RMD and deducting the gift, especially if you take the standard deduction.

  • 2026 limit: $111,000 per person, up from $108,000 for 2025 (Notice 2025-67). Married couples can each give up to the limit from their own IRAs.
  • One-time split-interest election: up to $55,000 for 2026 to a charitable remainder trust or charitable gift annuity.
  • IRAs only, not 401(k)s, and not an ongoing SEP or SIMPLE IRA.
  • No double benefit: you can’t also claim a charitable deduction for the QCD.
  • It must leave the IRA by December 31, 2026 to count for 2026. Check your custodian’s year-end cutoff.

Not sure the deduction would help anyway? Compare in the itemized vs. standard deduction calculator.

Inherited IRAs

Beneficiary rules are different and depend on when the owner died and whether they had already started RMDs:

  • For owners who died after 2019, most non-spouse beneficiaries must empty the account by December 31 of the year containing the 10th anniversary of the death.
  • Eligible designated beneficiaries (a surviving spouse, a minor child of the owner, a disabled or chronically ill person, or someone not more than 10 years younger) can generally use life-expectancy payments instead.
  • Whether you also owe annual RMDs during the 10 years depends on whether the owner died before or after their required beginning date. See Publication 590-B and Retirement topics – Beneficiary, and check with the custodian.

What to do before December 31

  1. List every account that needs an RMD: each IRA, each 401(k)/457(b), and any inherited account.
  2. Confirm the December 31, 2025 balances and your custodian’s RMD figure. Spot-check it with the table above.
  3. Decide on QCDs first if you give to charity, so the gift counts toward the RMD.
  4. Request the withdrawal early. Leave time for the custodian to process before year-end.
  5. Set withholding or plan an estimated payment by January 15, 2027. Estimate the tax with the federal tax calculator.
  6. Still working and contributing? Finish your 2026 401(k) deferrals by your last December paycheck. The retirement contribution calculator and 2026 401(k) & IRA limits cover the ceilings.

What this does not do

  • It’s not personalized tax advice. Defined benefit pensions, pre-1987 403(b) amounts, and trusts as beneficiaries have special rules not covered here.
  • RMDs aren’t modeled line by line in our calculators. Use them for a rough tax effect only.
  • Educational only. Confirm details on IRS.gov or with your plan administrator.

This page summarizes IRS guidance as of November 3, 2026.