Want the full rulebook - the 10-year rule, the eligible designated beneficiary categories, the Single Life Table mechanics, the Notice 2024-35 waiver, and the 25 percent penalty? Read the companion guide.
Read the Inherited IRA RMD Guide →
Short Answer
An inherited IRA RMD depends on which set of rules applies to you. Most non-spouse heirs are designated beneficiaries who must empty the account by December 31 of the 10th year after the owner's death. If the owner died on or after their required beginning date, you must also take an annual RMD in years 1 through 9, equal to the prior December 31 balance divided by a factor from the IRS Single Life Expectancy Table that you set once and reduce by one each year. Eligible designated beneficiaries (a spouse, minor child, disabled or chronically ill person, or someone not more than 10 years younger) can instead stretch distributions over their own life expectancy. A missed RMD carries a 25 percent excise tax (10 percent if corrected timely).
Key Takeaways
- 10-year rule. Most non-spouse beneficiaries who inherit after 2019 must empty the account by December 31 of the 10th year after death.
- Annual RMD in years 1-9. Required only if the owner died on or after their required beginning date; enforced starting 2025 after the Notice 2024-35 waiver covered 2021-2024.
- Single Life Table. Beneficiaries use Table I (not the Uniform Lifetime Table), fixing the factor in the first distribution year and subtracting one each later year.
- Eligible designated beneficiaries. Spouse, minor child of the owner, disabled, chronically ill, or not more than 10 years younger - these can stretch over life expectancy.
- Spouse flexibility. A surviving spouse can treat the IRA as their own and avoid the inherited-account rules entirely.
- Taxable as ordinary income. Inherited traditional IRA distributions are ordinary income to you; inherited Roth distributions are generally tax-free but still must be withdrawn.
- 25 percent penalty. A missed RMD - or failing to empty by year 10 - triggers a 25 percent excise tax, cut to 10 percent if corrected within two years.
- Minor child caveat. A minor child of the owner stretches only until age 21, then the 10-year clock starts.
2026 and 2025 Inherited IRA RMD Rules
Inherited IRA Required Minimum Distribution — Key Rules
| Item | Tax Year 2026 | Tax Year 2025 |
|---|
| 10-year empty-by deadline | Dec 31 of 10th year after death | Dec 31 of 10th year after death |
| Annual RMD in years 1-9 (died on/after RBD) | Required | Required (first enforced year) |
| Annual RMD waiver years | None (waiver ended) | None (waiver ended) |
| Life expectancy table | Single Life (Table I) | Single Life (Table I) |
| EDB stretch method | Single Life, subtract-one | Single Life, subtract-one |
| Missed-RMD excise tax | 25% (10% if corrected) | 25% (10% if corrected) |
| Inherited Roth lifetime RMD | None for the original owner; 10-year rule for heir | None for the original owner; 10-year rule for heir |
Inherited-account RMDs are governed by IRC §401(a)(9), the SECURE Act 10-year rule, and the Treasury final regulations published July 19, 2024. The Single Life Expectancy Table (IRS Publication 590-B, Table I) was last revised effective 2022. IRS Notices 2022-53, 2023-54, and 2024-35 waived the annual-RMD penalty inside the 10-year window for 2021 through 2024; those distributions are enforced beginning in 2025. Sources: IRC §401(a)(9), IRS Publication 590-B, the IRS inherited-IRA beneficiary page, and the 2024 final regulations.
How the Inherited IRA RMD Calculation Works
The tool follows the path the IRS worksheets take: first it decides which rule applies to you, then it computes the distribution using the Single Life Expectancy Table. For the full rules - the beneficiary categories, the deadlines, and the penalties - see the Inherited IRA RMD Guide.
Step 1: Identify Your Beneficiary Category Confirmed
If you are an eligible designated beneficiary (a spouse, a minor child of the owner, a disabled or chronically ill person, or someone not more than 10 years younger than the owner), you can stretch distributions over your own life expectancy. Everyone else who is an individual is a designated beneficiary subject to the 10-year rule.
Step 2: Check the Owner's Required Beginning Date Confirmed
Under the 10-year rule, whether you owe an annual RMD in years 1 through 9 depends on whether the original owner died on or after their required beginning date. Died on or after it, annual RMDs are required (years 1-9); died before it, no annual RMD is required and only the year-10 deadline applies.
Step 3: Find Your Single Life Factor Confirmed
The factor comes from the Single Life Expectancy Table using your age in the first distribution year, the year after the owner's death. A beneficiary age 55 that year uses a 31.6 factor. Each later year the factor drops by exactly one (the subtract-one method): 30.6, then 29.6, and so on.
Step 4: Divide to Get the Annual RMD Confirmed
Annual RMD = prior December 31 balance ÷ the current Single Life factor. A $400,000 balance with a 31.6 factor produces an RMD of about $12,658. The amount changes each year as both the balance and the factor change.
Step 5: Apply the Year-10 Deadline, Tax, and Penalty Confirmed
In the 10th year, the entire remaining balance must come out regardless of the annual factor. The distribution is ordinary income from a pre-tax inherited account; the tool estimates the income tax at your marginal rate and shows the 25 percent excise tax (10 percent if corrected) that applies to any RMD you fail to take.
Real-World Examples
Example 1 — 10-year rule, owner died after RBD, year 1
Beneficiary age (first dist. year)55
Single Life factor31.6
Prior Dec 31 balance$400,000
Annual RMD$12,658
Example 2 — Same heir, year 2 (subtract-one)
Factor (31.6 minus 1)30.6
Prior Dec 31 balance$405,000
Annual RMD$13,235
Example 3 — 10-year rule, owner died before RBD
Annual RMD years 1-9$0
Empty-by deadlineDec 31, year 10
Example 4 — EDB life-expectancy stretch (age 57)
Single Life factor (age 57)29.8
Prior Dec 31 balance$200,000
Annual RMD$6,711
Example 5 — Year 10, entire balance comes out
Remaining balance$350,000
Required distribution$350,000
Account after year 10$0
Example 6 — Missed annual RMD penalty
RMD not taken$12,658
25% excise tax$3,165
10% if corrected timely$1,266
Practitioner Insight (LMN Tax Inc.)
LMN Tax Inc. — Planning Notes
The single most common inherited-IRA mistake we see is assuming the 10-year rule means "do nothing for nine years, then withdraw everything." That is only true when the original owner died before their required beginning date. If they died on or after it, the final regulations require an annual RMD in years one through nine, and that requirement is now enforced for 2025 onward. The IRS waived the penalty for 2021 through 2024 under Notices 2022-53, 2023-54, and 2024-35, which lulled a lot of beneficiaries into a false sense of security.
Even when annual RMDs are not required, emptying a large inherited IRA in a single year-10 lump is almost always the wrong tax move. We model a voluntary level-withdrawal plan across the full ten years so the income is spread across brackets rather than spiking in one year and dragging the beneficiary into the 32 or 35 percent bracket plus a possible IRMAA surcharge. The 10-year rule sets a floor and a deadline; it does not dictate the smartest withdrawal pace.
Surviving spouses should pause before doing anything. A spouse is an eligible designated beneficiary and has options no one else has: treat the IRA as their own, roll it over, or keep it inherited and take life-expectancy distributions. For a younger surviving spouse who does not need the money yet, treating it as their own usually defers RMDs until the spouse's own age 73, which is far better than the inherited-account timeline. We run both paths before retitling anything, because the choice is hard to reverse.
Watch the minor-child trap. A minor child of the owner is an eligible designated beneficiary, but only until age 21. At 21 the 10-year clock starts, and the account must be emptied by age 31. Families often plan around the child's full life expectancy and are surprised when the stretch collapses into a 10-year window at adulthood.
When This Calculator Does Not Cover Your Situation
- Surviving spouse who recalculates. A spouse who keeps the account as inherited and uses life expectancy recalculates the Single Life factor at their current age each year rather than subtracting one. This tool uses the subtract-one method, so a spouse's true RMD can differ.
- Spouse treating the IRA as their own. If a surviving spouse rolls the IRA into their own, the inherited rules no longer apply and the owner Uniform Lifetime Table governs. Use the RMD Calculator instead.
- Non-individual beneficiaries. An estate, a non-see-through trust, or a charity is not a designated beneficiary. The 5-year rule (death before RBD) or the owner's remaining "ghost" life expectancy (death on or after RBD) applies, which this tool does not model.
- Successor beneficiaries. Someone who inherits an already-inherited IRA generally steps into a 10-year window of their own with separate timing.
- After-tax basis. If the original owner made nondeductible contributions (Form 8606), part of each distribution is a tax-free return of basis, so the taxable amount and tax estimate here are overstated.
- Pre-2020 inheritances. Accounts inherited before 2020 generally keep the old stretch rules and are outside the SECURE Act 10-year regime.
- State income tax. The estimate is federal only. Many states also tax inherited IRA distributions.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is an inherited IRA RMD calculated?
For an eligible designated beneficiary taking life-expectancy payments, the RMD equals the prior December 31 balance divided by a factor from the IRS Single Life Expectancy Table (Table I). You set the factor in the first distribution year, the year after the owner's death, using your age that year, then subtract one for each later year. A beneficiary age 57 in the first year uses a 29.8 factor; the next year the factor is 28.8, and so on. A beneficiary under the 10-year rule whose owner died on or after the required beginning date uses the same Single Life factor for the annual distribution in years one through nine, then empties the account by the end of year ten.
What is the 10-year rule for inherited IRAs?
Most non-spouse beneficiaries who inherit after 2019 must withdraw the entire inherited IRA by December 31 of the tenth year after the original owner's death. Whether annual distributions are also required during those ten years depends on when the owner died: if the owner died on or after their required beginning date, the beneficiary must take an annual RMD in years one through nine and clear the balance in year ten; if the owner died before the required beginning date, no annual RMD is required and the only deadline is the end of year ten.
Do I have to take an annual RMD during the 10 years?
It depends on whether the original owner had reached their required beginning date. If they died on or after it, the final regulations require an annual RMD in years one through nine, calculated on the Single Life Table. The IRS waived the missed-RMD penalty for these distributions for 2021 through 2024 under Notices 2022-53, 2023-54, and 2024-35, but annual RMDs are enforced starting in 2025. If the owner died before the required beginning date, there is no annual RMD and you only need to empty the account by the end of year ten.
Who is an eligible designated beneficiary?
An eligible designated beneficiary (EDB) can stretch distributions over their own life expectancy instead of using the 10-year rule. The five categories are: a surviving spouse, a minor child of the original owner (only until age 21, then the 10-year rule begins), a disabled individual, a chronically ill individual, and a beneficiary who is not more than 10 years younger than the owner. Everyone else who is an individual is a designated beneficiary subject to the 10-year rule.
Which IRS table does an inherited IRA use?
Beneficiaries use the Single Life Expectancy Table (Table I in IRS Publication 590-B), not the Uniform Lifetime Table that original owners use. A non-spouse beneficiary fixes the factor in the first distribution year based on their age and then reduces it by one each year. A surviving spouse who keeps the account as an inherited IRA and uses life expectancy can instead recalculate the factor at their current age each year.
What is the penalty for missing an inherited IRA RMD?
A missed RMD carries an excise tax under IRC section 4974 equal to 25 percent of the amount you should have withdrawn but did not. The penalty drops to 10 percent if you take the missed amount and file Form 5329 within a two-year correction window. The IRS can also waive the penalty for reasonable cause. The same penalty applies to failing to empty an inherited account by the end of the tenth year.
Are inherited IRA distributions taxable?
Distributions from an inherited traditional IRA or pre-tax workplace plan are taxed as ordinary income to the beneficiary in the year received, just as they would have been to the original owner, except for any after-tax basis. Inherited Roth IRA distributions are generally tax-free, but the account must still be emptied under the 10-year rule by most non-spouse beneficiaries. This calculator estimates the federal income tax at a marginal rate you choose.
Can a surviving spouse avoid the 10-year rule?
Yes. A surviving spouse has the most options. The spouse can treat the inherited IRA as their own by rolling it over or retitling it, which removes it from the inherited-account rules entirely and subjects it to the normal owner RMD rules at the spouse's own starting age. Alternatively, the spouse can keep it as an inherited IRA and take life-expectancy distributions, recalculating the factor each year. A spouse is an eligible designated beneficiary and is not forced into the 10-year rule.
What to Do Next
If You Just Inherited an IRA
Confirm your beneficiary category and the owner's death timing, then read the full rules in the Inherited IRA RMD Guide so you know whether annual RMDs apply and when the account must be empty.
If You Want to Shrink Future RMDs You Will Leave Behind
Converting a traditional IRA to a Roth before death leaves heirs a tax-free inherited Roth. Model the cost with the Roth Conversion Tax Calculator.
Disclaimer: This calculator provides estimates for educational purposes only and does not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. The inherited-account RMD framework reflects IRC §401(a)(9), IRS Publication 590-B (Single Life Expectancy Table, Table I), the SECURE Act 10-year rule, and the 2024 final regulations for tax years 2025 and 2026. The annual RMD equals the prior December 31 balance divided by the Single Life factor (set in the first distribution year and reduced by one each year); the account must be emptied by December 31 of the 10th year after death; a missed RMD carries a 25 percent excise tax (10 percent if corrected timely). The spousal recalculation method, the ghost-life-expectancy rule for non-individual beneficiaries, successor beneficiaries, after-tax basis, and state tax are not modeled. Consult a qualified tax professional before relying on these figures.