Retirees 74 and older who have not yet taken this year’s required minimum distribution from a traditional IRA have until Dec. 31 to do it, the IRS says on its page on required minimum distributions. Miss that date and a person may owe a 25% excise tax on the amount that was not withdrawn as required, the agency says. The rate falls to 10% if the shortfall is withdrawn within two years.
The Dec. 31 deadline applies to every year after the first. A person who reached age 73 in 2025 or earlier already had a first-year deadline behind them, so the 2026 withdrawal is due by year-end, and IRS Publication 590-B says the required amount for any year after the year a person reaches 73 must be made by Dec. 31. The same rule covers a SEP IRA, a SIMPLE IRA and most workplace plan accounts.
The question for a retiree this week is whether every account that requires a withdrawal has actually paid one out for 2026. A person with several IRAs and an old workplace plan can easily have one of them still untouched, and the penalty is figured on the amount that should have come out and did not.
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Does turning 73 this year change the deadline?
It does. The IRS page says the first required withdrawal from an IRA is due by April 1 of the year after a person reaches age 73, and the IRS FAQ on required distributions gives an example: someone who reaches 73 in 2024 takes the first withdrawal by April 1, 2025 and the second by Dec. 31, 2025. A retiree who turns 73 in 2026 is in that first-year position and has until April 1, 2027 for the 2026 amount.
The trade-off is timing. Waiting until the spring means the 2026 withdrawal and the 2027 withdrawal both come due in the same calendar year, 2027, since the second still has to be taken by Dec. 31. That is why the Dec. 31 deadline in this story belongs to retirees who are past their first year.
Publication 590-B puts the starting age at 73 for tax years 2023 and later, and says a person who reaches 72 after Dec. 31, 2022 begins required withdrawals at that later age. That change puts retirees in their early 70s on different calendars. Someone who turned 73 in 2025 faced an April 1, 2026 deadline for the first withdrawal and now faces Dec. 31, 2026 for the second.
What does a missed withdrawal cost?
The IRS page says a person “may have to pay” a 25% excise tax on the amount not distributed as required. On a $10,000 shortfall, that would be $2,500, or $1,000 if the shortfall is withdrawn within the two-year window. The FAQ describes the lower rate as applying when the required withdrawal is timely corrected within two years.
The tax is reported on Form 5329, the IRS says. According to the FAQ, the account owner files it with the federal return for the year in which the full required amount was not taken. For a 2026 shortfall, that means the return covering 2026.
Can the IRS waive the penalty?
It can, in some cases. The IRS FAQ says the penalty “may be waived” when the shortfall was due to reasonable error. A person asking for a waiver files Form 5329 and attaches a letter of explanation, the agency says.
A waiver is a request, not a right, and the FAQ describes it as available for a reasonable error. Someone who knows now that a withdrawal is still outstanding is better placed to take it before Dec. 31 than to explain a miss in the spring.
Which accounts need a withdrawal and which do not?
The IRS FAQ says people generally must start taking withdrawals from a traditional IRA, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA and retirement plan accounts at age 73. The IRS page separately says account owners do not have to take withdrawals from designated Roth accounts in a 401(k) or 403(b) plan while the owner is alive. Beneficiaries of those accounts are subject to the distribution rules.
A retiree with a traditional IRA and a 401(k) from a former employer should check each one against those lists. Anyone unsure how much has already come out this year can ask the account custodian for a year-to-date distribution total, which should show whether the full amount has been paid.
What is left to do before Dec. 31?
The IRS page sets Dec. 31 as the date by which the withdrawal must be made. A retiree who has not started should confirm the required amount with the custodian, choose how much tax to withhold and ask for the money to be sent before the year ends.
The IRS page is the free official reference for the deadline and the penalty rates, and it was last reviewed on April 8, 2026. A retiree who finds that a withdrawal was missed in an earlier year should read the Form 5329 and waiver steps above before filing.
Still holding an IRA withdrawal you have not taken?
A 25% excise tax lands on whatever amount stays in the account after Dec. 31, and the first-year April 1 option can double up two withdrawals in a single tax year. A retiree who sorts out the timing now keeps both problems out of the 2026 return.
Cut Your Retirement Tax Bill: 12 Moves is a 14-page guide, and its RMDs on time, without the 25% penalty or the first-year trap section works through exactly this deadline. It also covers giving from your IRA straight to charity, left out of your taxable income, with the form to use for each move.
Get the RMD deadline guide for skipping the 25% penalty this December →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
