Required Beginning Date for RMDs: Age, April 1 Deadline, and Exceptions

The Required Beginning Date for RMDs is April 1 of the year after you turn your applicable RMD age, which is 73 or 75 depending on when you were born. That first distribution is the only one you get to push into the following spring. Every RMD after it is due by December 31 of its own year, and missing any of these deadlines exposes the shortfall to a 25% excise tax.¹

Which Age Applies to You

Congress has moved the RMD starting age three times in recent decades, so your birth year controls which threshold you hit. The SECURE Act of 2019 shifted it from 70½ to 72, and SECURE 2.0 in 2022 pushed it to 73 and eventually 75.

Born before July 1, 1949: RMDs began at age 70½. This group’s Required Beginning Date has long passed.
Born July 1, 1949 through December 31, 1950: RMDs began at age 72.
Born January 1, 1951 through December 31, 1959: RMDs begin at age 73.
Born January 1, 1960 or later: RMDs begin at age 75.

The 1959 birth year created confusion because a drafting overlap in SECURE 2.0 technically pointed to two different ages. IRS final regulations resolved it: if you were born in 1959, your RMD age is 73.²

Getting the bracket right matters because it drives every date and dollar figure that follows. Two extra years of tax-deferred growth also means a larger balance when withdrawals finally begin, which can push distributions into a higher tax bracket than you might expect.

How the April 1 First-Year Deadline Works

Your Required Beginning Date is April 1 of the calendar year following the year you reach your applicable age. If you turn 73 in 2025, your first RMD is due by April 1, 2026.¹ That April 1 date is a one-time grace period attached to the first distribution only.

The dollar amount comes from dividing your account balance as of December 31 of the prior year by a life expectancy factor in the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. A different table applies if your sole beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger, which produces a smaller required withdrawal.³

Timing at year-end matters. A withdrawal initiated on December 30 that settles on January 2 counts for the wrong tax year, so distributions need to be processed early enough in December to appear on that year’s Form 1099-R.⁴

Which Accounts the Rule Applies To

The Required Beginning Date applies to Traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, and employer-sponsored plans like 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and 457(b)s. The common thread is that contributions or earnings have never been taxed, and the IRS wants that tax revenue eventually.

Roth IRAs are the major exception: the original owner never has to take lifetime RMDs.⁵ Designated Roth accounts inside employer plans, such as Roth 401(k)s and Roth 403(b)s, used to face RMDs even though the money had already been taxed. SECURE 2.0 removed that requirement starting in 2024, so Roth money inside workplace plans now follows the same rule as Roth IRAs.² Inherited accounts follow a separate framework not covered here.

The Double-Distribution Trap in Year One

Using the April 1 grace period sounds like free time, but it can create a tax problem. Every RMD after the first is due by December 31 of the same calendar year. If you delay your first distribution into the following spring, you end up taking two RMDs in one tax year: the delayed first-year amount by April 1, and the current year’s amount by December 31.¹

Both withdrawals count as ordinary income in the year received. Doubling up can push your adjusted gross income into territory that triggers consequences beyond a higher tax bracket, including increased taxation of Social Security benefits and Medicare Part B premium surcharges through the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA). IRMAA is based on income from two years prior, so a double-distribution year would affect premiums two years out.⁶ For that reason, many people take the first RMD in the year they reach the applicable age rather than deferring to April 1 of the next year.

Still-Working Exception for Employer Plans

If you keep working past your applicable RMD age, you may be able to delay distributions from your current employer’s retirement plan until April 1 of the year after you actually retire. This exception applies to 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans, and only to the plan sponsored by the employer you currently work for. It does not apply to IRAs or to accounts you left behind at former employers.¹

There is a hard cutoff for business owners. If you own more than 5% of the company sponsoring the plan, you cannot use the still-working exception. Your RMD clock starts at the normal age regardless of whether you remain on the payroll. Ownership includes shares attributed to you through family members under the tax code’s attribution rules.⁷

Not every employer plan adopts this provision. Check your summary plan description or ask HR before assuming you can delay.

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

Missing your Required Beginning Date, or withdrawing less than the calculated amount, triggers a 25% excise tax on the shortfall. That penalty drops to 10% if you correct the shortfall within a two-year window.¹ You report the shortfall on IRS Form 5329, Part IX, which calculates the excise tax at the appropriate rate depending on when you corrected.⁸

A full waiver is also possible. If the shortfall resulted from a reasonable error and you are taking steps to fix it, you can ask the IRS to waive the penalty entirely. Write “RC” and the shortfall amount in parentheses on the dotted line next to line 54 of Form 5329, then attach a letter explaining what went wrong and what you did to correct it. The IRS reviews the explanation and notifies you if the waiver is denied.⁸ Common reasonable-cause scenarios include a custodian processing error, serious illness, or incorrect advice from a financial institution. Waivers are granted more often than many people expect, particularly when the taxpayer took the missed distribution as soon as the error came to light.

The IRS has visibility on both sides of the ledger. Financial institutions report your balance on Form 5498, which includes a checkbox (box 11) flagging whether an RMD is due for the following year, and they report actual distributions on Form 1099-R.⁴ Between the two forms, the IRS can see what you should have withdrawn and what you actually did.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs
2
Congress.gov. Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) Rules for Original Owners of Retirement Accounts
3
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-B – Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)
4
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 (2025)
5
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
6
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 401 – Qualified Pension, Profit-Sharing, and Stock Bonus Plans
8
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 5329