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IRS Publication 590-B is the official IRS guide covering distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs). It tells you when you must start taking money out, how much you must take, how withdrawals are taxed, what penalties apply for early or missed distributions, and how inherited IRAs work. If you have a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA, or inherited either, this publication governs how you handle the money coming out.
Publication 590-A, its companion document, covers contributions. Publication 590-B covers only distributions.
Traditional IRA owners must begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) by April 1 of the year after they turn 73. This start age was raised from 72 by the SECURE Act of 2019 and further updated by SECURE 2.0 in 2022.
Each year's RMD is calculated by dividing your IRA balance as of December 31 of the prior year by a life expectancy factor from Publication 590-B's appendix tables. Publication 590-B includes three tables for this purpose: the Uniform Lifetime Table for most owners, the Joint and Last Survivor Table for owners whose sole beneficiary is a spouse more than ten years younger, and the Single Life Expectancy Table for beneficiaries of inherited accounts.
Roth IRAs have no required minimum distributions during the original owner's lifetime.
Taking money out of a traditional IRA before you turn 59 and a half generally costs you a 10% additional tax on top of ordinary income tax on the withdrawn amount. For SIMPLE IRA distributions within the first two years of plan participation, that penalty increases to 25%.
Publication 590-B lists exceptions that waive the penalty: disability, death, substantially equal periodic payments under IRS Rule 72(t), medical expenses above 7.5% of adjusted gross income, health insurance premiums during unemployment, qualified higher education expenses, and first-time home purchase up to $10,000 lifetime, among others.
Withdrawals from a traditional IRA are included in your ordinary income in the year you receive them. If you made nondeductible contributions, you calculate the taxable portion using Form 8606 to avoid being taxed twice on the same dollars.
Qualified distributions from a Roth IRA are entirely tax-free. A distribution is qualified if you are at least 59 and a half and the account has been open for at least five years. Roth contributions (not earnings) can be withdrawn at any age without tax or penalty because you already paid tax on them.
Non-spouse beneficiaries who inherit an IRA from someone who died after December 31, 2019, must fully distribute the inherited account by December 31 of the tenth year after the owner's death. This eliminated the old "stretch IRA" strategy where beneficiaries could draw down an inherited account over their full life expectancy.
Eligible designated beneficiaries including surviving spouses, minor children, disabled individuals, and individuals not more than ten years younger than the deceased owner are exempt from the ten-year rule and may still use life expectancy payments.
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