RMD Tax Calculator
Your required minimum distribution, the federal tax it creates on top of your other income, and the withholding percentage to request so nothing is owed later.
The age on your birthday this year sets the IRS table factor.
The prior year-end balance of the IRA or 401(k). Total your traditional IRAs together.
Pension, the taxable part of Social Security, wages, interest. This sets the bracket your RMD lands in.
Enter your age and account balance to see your RMD and the tax on it.
How the RMD is calculated
The IRS divides your account balance from December 31 of last year by a distribution period from its Uniform Lifetime Table, a number of years based on your age. At 73 the period is 26.5 years, so a $500,000 IRA requires about an $18,900 withdrawal. Each year the period shrinks, so the required percentage of the account grows.
Brokerage calculators stop there. The part that determines your quarterly position is what comes next. The distribution is ordinary income stacked on top of everything else you receive, nothing is withheld beyond a 10% default unless you ask, and the IRS expects the tax during the year. That gap is what the withholding percentage above closes.
Covering the tax during the year
Withholding from the RMD itself is usually the simplest answer, because withheld tax counts as paid evenly across all four quarters no matter when the distribution happens. The details of that timing rule, and the December version of it, are in estimated taxes in retirement. For your complete picture, including Social Security taxability and pension income, use the retirement withdrawal tax calculator or the full calculator with your state included.
Frequently asked questions
This is just one piece
Get your complete quarterly estimate. Every income type, federal and state, penalties, and the method that pays the least, combined in one place.