Retirees who turn 73 in 2026 get a choice that comes with a catch. The IRS lets them wait until April 1, 2027 to take their first required withdrawal from a traditional retirement account. Waiting means two withdrawals land in the same calendar year, the first by April 1 and the second by December 31, 2027.
The rule is the same one the IRS has published for years, and the agency repeated it when it last reviewed its required-minimum-distribution page on January 29, 2026. What changes each year is who the choice applies to. This fall, it is anyone born in 1953.
What exactly can wait until April 1, 2027?
The IRS RMD FAQs say owners of traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs and retirement plan accounts generally must start withdrawals when they reach age 73, and that they can delay the first RMD until April 1 of the following year. For a 73rd birthday in 2026, that date is April 1, 2027.
The IRS retirement topics page spells out the IRA version: the first withdrawal is due by April 1 of the year following the calendar year in which the owner reaches 73. Nothing is due on December 31, 2026 from a retiree using the delay.
So the decision in front of a new 73-year-old is not whether to take the money, but which tax year should carry it. Retirees who turn 73 this year must pick between taking the first distribution before December 31, 2026 or holding it until the first quarter of 2027. The money is taxed on the return for whichever year it comes out.
What changed this year: Social Security and Medicare change every year, and nobody sends you a memo. The Retirement Money Brief breaks down what changed and what to do. Bonus when you subscribe: our 2026 Retirement Tax, RMD & Medicare Deadline Calendar.
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Why do two withdrawals fall in one year?
Only the first RMD gets the extension. The IRS retirement topics page says that for each year after the required beginning date, the withdrawal must be made by December 31. The calendar does not move for the second one.
The IRS FAQs show the pattern with an example for a retiree who turns 73 in 2024: the first RMD is due by April 1, 2025, and the second by December 31, 2025. Move the same dates forward two years and a retiree who turns 73 in 2026 faces April 1, 2027 and December 31, 2027.
The IRS Publication 590-B describes the same two dates: begin by April 1 of the year after reaching 73, and make later withdrawals by December 31 of that later year.
What does stacking two withdrawals do to a tax bill?
Withdrawals from traditional accounts are generally taxed as ordinary income in the year they come out. Two in one year therefore put two years of required distributions on a single return. For a retiree whose Social Security, pension and other income already sit near a bracket line, that can push taxable income higher than taking one in 2026 and one in 2027 would.
That is the trade the IRS rule creates. Waiting keeps 2026 income lower. Taking the first RMD now spreads the tax across two returns. Neither answer is right for everyone, and the right one depends on a retiree’s other income, which is why the choice is worth working out in numbers before April.
Which accounts are left out of the rule?
The IRS says the RMD rules do not apply to Roth IRAs or designated Roth accounts while the owner is alive, so a retiree with only Roth money has no required withdrawal to time. Money in a pre-1987 403(b) plan follows a separate schedule and does not have to be distributed until December 31 of the year the participant turns 75.
For everyone else with a traditional account, the penalty for missing a deadline is steep. The IRS says the amount not withdrawn may be subject to an excise tax of 25%, or 10% if the RMD is timely corrected within two years. A retiree who plans to wait for April 1 therefore needs the first withdrawal on a calendar, because the date is firm.
The decision for every retiree turning 73 this year comes down to one dated question: take the first RMD before December 31, 2026, or hold it for April 1, 2027 and face the second one eight months later.
Take it now or in April?
A retiree who waits until April 1, 2027 puts two required withdrawals on one tax return, and the extra income can raise the tax on Social Security and the Medicare premium tier in a single year. That cost is easy to miss when each withdrawal is looked at alone.
The Retirement Tax & Withdrawal Planner includes four calculators (provisional income, IRMAA tier, RMD schedule, Roth bracket fill), so both timings can be compared side by side. Part 5 covers RMDs and the Roth-conversion window.
Compare the 2026 and April 2027 withdrawal timing with the planner’s RMD calculators →
More Financial Reading
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- 15 Ways Retirees Are Tapping a Record $14.9 Trillion in Home Equity
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
