RMD deadline calculator

The facts, in one place.

Seven quotable sentences on when a withdrawal counts.

1. A required minimum distribution is one year's total, not one withdrawal. It can be taken in one withdrawal or several, as long as the total is out by the deadline (IRS Publication 590-B).
2. The deadline is December 31 of the year, with one exception: the amount for the first RMD year may be taken as late as April 1 of the following year (26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-5(a)(3)).
3. A withdrawal taken any time in the first RMD year counts for that year, including before the birthday. A withdrawal taken before that year counts for no RMD.
4. The RMD year and the tax year can differ. A withdrawal taken on March 15 of the second year can finish the first year's RMD, and it is still taxed in the second year, because tax follows the year the money left the account.
5. An amount above the required minimum earns no credit toward a later year. It does lower the next December 31 balance, so the next year's required amount is a little smaller.
6. The second year's amount uses the actual balance on December 31 of the first year. That balance is not reduced for a first-year amount still in the account on that date (26 CFR 1.408-8(b)(2)).
7. A missed amount may be subject to an excise tax, generally 25% of the shortfall on the due date, reduced to 10% if it is taken and a return showing the tax is filed during the correction window (26 U.S.C. § 4974). Example: $7,735.85 still unpaid on April 1, 2027 for 2026 means $1,933.96 at 25% or $773.59 at 10%.

The deadlines.

Each year's due date, and the last day to take a missed amount and file a return showing the tax to qualify for the lower rate, unless the IRS acts sooner.

How a withdrawal is counted.

Every withdrawal has two years attached to it. The RMD year is the year whose requirement it satisfies. The tax year is the calendar year the money left the account. Most of the time they are the same year. They differ in one common case: the first RMD year's amount may be taken as late as April 1 of the following year, so a withdrawal in January, February or March can finish the earlier year's requirement and still be taxed in the later year.

The calculator takes the withdrawals in date order. Each one goes first to the oldest required amount that is still unpaid, then to the next, up to the current year's. Whatever is left counts for no RMD. It is not carried forward, because an amount above the minimum earns no credit toward a later year. A piece is on time when its date is on or before that year's due date, and late otherwise.

Counting the oldest unpaid amount first is this calculator's convention. No tax form labels a withdrawal with an RMD year: Form 1099-R reports the calendar year paid, and a missed amount and its correction are reported on Form 5329. Under the convention, a late withdrawal corrects the earlier miss before it counts toward the current year, so an old shortfall is never left open while a newer year reads as met.

Methodology.

1. Inputs. The year of birth, the first year to show, the total traditional IRA balance on the December 31 before each year, an optional amount still unpaid from an earlier year, and each withdrawal's date and gross amount.
2. The required amount. The December 31 balance divided by the Uniform Lifetime Table factor for the age reached in the year, computed to the cent. A balance left blank is estimated as the earlier balance less that year's withdrawals and is labeled an estimate; the real figure on the year-end statement should replace it.
3. The deadline. December 31 of the year, or April 1 of the following year for the first RMD year. The first RMD year comes from the year of birth, not from the first year shown.
4. The count. Withdrawals in date order, oldest unpaid amount first, never applied to a year that has not begun; a remainder counts for no RMD. A year is met only when it is met to the cent.
5. A missed amount. The shortfall is the required amount less what was counted by the due date. The possible excise tax figures, before any waiver, are 25 and 10 percent of it. The correction window is shown as ending on December 31 of the second year after the year that includes the due date; a notice of deficiency or an assessment ends it sooner.
6. Validation. Waiting until April 1; a first year partly missed and made up in June, with the withdrawal split; a second year seven cents short; extra taken in the first year; a person years past the first year, with no April 1; a withdrawal before the first RMD year; an amount carried in from an earlier year; and an amount not yet due. A wrong result fails the build.
7. Not modeled. Inherited IRAs, Roth IRAs, employer plans, the Joint Life and Last Survivor table, the tax treatment of qualified charitable distributions (they count toward the RMD when entered), after-tax basis, Roth conversions, rollovers outstanding at year end, and weekend or holiday adjustments to a due date. Educational, not advice.

Sources.

1. 1. Code of Federal Regulations (Cornell LII), 26 CFR § 1.401(a)(9)-5 — Required minimum distributions from defined contribution plans. Paragraph (a)(3): the amount for the first distribution calendar year may be made on or before April 1 of the following calendar year; the amount for any other year must be made by the end of that year. Paragraph (a)(2)(ii): the first distribution calendar year is the year the applicable age is attained. Retrieved November 13, 2026; verified November 13, 2026.
2. 2. Code of Federal Regulations (Cornell LII), 26 CFR § 1.408-8 — Distribution requirements for individual retirement plans. Paragraph (b)(2): the IRA account balance is the balance on December 31 of the preceding calendar year, with no adjustment for distributions after that date. Paragraph (d)(4): a trustee-to-trustee transfer is not a distribution. Paragraph (e): an owner's IRAs may be aggregated. Retrieved November 13, 2026; verified November 13, 2026.
3. 3. Internal Revenue Service, Publication 590-B, Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs). That any amount distributed in the year the applicable age is reached is credited toward the amount due by April 1 of the following year; that an amount above the minimum earns no credit toward a later year; that the yearly amount may be taken in installments. Retrieved November 13, 2026; verified November 13, 2026.
4. 4. United States Code (Cornell LII), 26 U.S.C. § 4974 — Excise tax on certain accumulations in qualified retirement plans. Subsection (a): a tax of 25 percent of the amount by which the required distribution exceeds the amount distributed. Subsection (d): waiver for reasonable error when reasonable steps are being taken. Subsection (e): 10 percent when the shortfall is distributed and a return reflecting the tax is submitted during the correction window, which ends on the earliest of a notice of deficiency, assessment, or the last day of the second taxable year beginning after the taxable year in which the tax is imposed. Retrieved November 13, 2026; verified November 13, 2026.
5. 5. Code of Federal Regulations (Cornell LII), 26 CFR § 54.4974-1 — Excise tax on accumulations in qualified retirement plans. Paragraph (f): an amount not paid by the April 1 deadline is a required distribution for the first distribution calendar year, but the excise tax is calculated for the calendar year that includes the deadline. Retrieved November 13, 2026; verified November 13, 2026.
6. 6. Code of Federal Regulations (Cornell LII), 26 CFR § 1.401(a)(9)-9 — Life expectancy and distribution period tables. The Uniform Lifetime Table in paragraph (c), every age from 72 to 120 and over, in effect for distribution calendar years beginning on or after January 1, 2022. Also the Single Life Table (paragraph (b)) for ages 40 through 70, used by the 72(t) tool. Retrieved September 4, 2026; verified November 13, 2026.
7. 7. Internal Revenue Service, Retirement topics — Required minimum distributions (RMDs). Age 73 as the current beginning age; the April 1 deadline for the first distribution and December 31 for later ones; two distributions falling in one year when the first is delayed; the 25 percent excise tax, reduced to 10 percent if corrected within two years. Retrieved September 4, 2026; verified September 4, 2026.
8. 8. United States Code (Cornell LII), 26 U.S.C. § 401(a)(9)(C) — Required beginning date; applicable age. The applicable age: 73 for those who attain 72 after 2022 and 73 before 2033; 75 for those who attain 74 after 2032 (SECURE 2.0 § 107). Retrieved September 4, 2026; verified November 13, 2026.
9. 9. Federal Register, Required Minimum Distributions — proposed regulations, 89 FR 58644 (July 19, 2024). That the applicable age for individuals born in 1959 is 73, resolving the overlap in the statute's two clauses. Retrieved September 4, 2026; verified November 13, 2026.

Revision history.

This tool reads the RMD record for the factors and ages; its own record's history is below.

November 13, 2026

First release: the deadline for each year's required amount, the oldest-unpaid-first counting convention, the December 31 balance rule, and the excise tax with its correction window, read from the statute and the Treasury regulations.

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