PSA: RMD and TT Entry

[marko]

This is not the biggest of issues, but wanted to share.

2025 was my first RMD year. I just got my 1099R and went to enter it into TT. At the end, one of the boxes was to enter my 'required' RMD amount, based upon my 2024 ending balance.

Short story is that after a lot of searching and a call to T. Rowe Price, they do not provide that number. While not the end of the world, I had to manually go back to my 2024 year-end statement and then run a 2025 RMD calculator to find my number. How hard would it have been for them to do this?

I'm not sure if other brokers provide this information but going forward, I need to write down my required number in January and save it somewhere. YMMV

 

[Koolau]

This is not the biggest of issues, but wanted to share.

2025 was my first RMD year. I just got my 1099R and went to enter it into TT. At the end, one of the boxes was to enter my 'required' RMD amount, based upon my 2024 ending balance.

Short story is that after a lot of searching and a call to T. Rowe Price, they do not provide that number. While not the end of the world, I had to manually go back to my 2024 year-end statement and then run a 2025 RMD calculator to find my number.

I'm not sure if other brokers provide this information but going forward, I need to write down my required number in January and save it somewhere.

My 401(k) custodian sends me a letter early each January telling me (to the penny) what my RMD is. When I've checked it vs the gummint devisor, it comes out the same.

I assumed most of the "big" Financial Houses provided RMD based on your holdings with them. Guess I was wrong.

 

[marko]

My 401(k) custodian sends me a letter early each January telling me (to the penny) what my RMD is. When I've checked it vs the gummint devisor, it comes out the same.

I assumed most of the "big" Financial Houses provided RMD based on your holdings with them. Guess I was wrong.

Yes, they tell me what I owe at the start of the year, but I was expecting them to record that number somewhere so that I'd have it 14 months later without having to dig.

If they're not recording it, they're not reporting it so it has sort of an honor system feel doesn't it?

 

[L-5Player]

It's just a single division equation with two inputs, one from the IRA year-end statement, and the other from a readily accessible RMD table based on your age. So yes, they could easily provide the dollar amount, but...

...there is also the variable that people commonly have more than one pre-tax retirement account, be it another IRA or a 4xx series workplace plan. So it could be misleading to those who don't fully understand how RMDs work.

In short, it's arguably more reliable to calculate it yourself.

 

[audreyh1]

My 401(k) custodian sends me a letter early each January telling me (to the penny) what my RMD is. When I've checked it vs the gummint devisor, it comes out the same.

I assumed most of the "big" Financial Houses provided RMD based on your holdings with them. Guess I was wrong.

This works if a custodian has all your accounts. For a 401K it works because you have to take an RMD amount out of each 401K. IRAs are different. You have to add all your IRA Dec 31 values together, and then you can take your RMD amount from any or multiple of them. If you have IRAs spread over multiple custodians they won’t know what your RMD amount is or whether you have met it.

 

[audreyh1]

This is not the biggest of issues, but wanted to share.

2025 was my first RMD year. I just got my 1099R and went to enter it into TT. At the end, one of the boxes was to enter my 'required' RMD amount, based upon my 2024 ending balance.

Short story is that after a lot of searching and a call to T. Rowe Price, they do not provide that number. While not the end of the world, I had to manually go back to my 2024 year-end statement and then run a 2025 RMD calculator to find my number. How hard would it have been for them to do this?

I'm not sure if other brokers provide this information but going forward, I need to write down my required number in January and save it somewhere. YMMV

So they provided your RMD number in January of 2025, but they didn’t save it online for you. How did they provide it - as a letter or something?

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, they tell me what I owe at the start of the year, but I was expecting them to record that number somewhere so that I'd have it 14 months later without having to dig.

If they're not recording it, they're not reporting it so it has sorr of an honor system feel doesn't it?

They don’t provide an RMD number to the IRS, but they do provide the Dec 31 value of each of your IRAs to the IRS. So the IRS knows how much you have across all brokerages and can easily calculate it.

 

[marko]

So they provided your RMD number in January of 2025, but they didn’t save it online for you. How did they provide it - as a letter or something?

They tell me my number and offer to do an automatic monthly withdrawal. I dont take thrm up on it and prefer my own schedule.

 

[latexman]

They tell me my number and offer to do an automatic monthly withdrawal. I dont take thrm up on it and prefer my own schedule.

So they call and whisper it to you? No letter, email, or text that you could print and file it in your "2025 Taxes" folder?

 

[marko]

Yes. They send me an email and its on my account website. It just never occurred to me that 1; id need the number and 2, they wouldn't have it if I did.

 

[COcheesehead]

There are a few numbers not provided by your brokerage that you need for taxes. Another one that can work in your favor is the percentage of treasury income from your money market interest.

 

[cathy63]

Every single IRA custodian is required to report the RMD for each account they hold to the IRS in May. They issue a Form 5498 which should be in your online account where you can download it for I think 10 years (I know it's available for at least 7 years). You'll find the RMD amount in box 12b of the 5498.

The custodian is not required to mail the 5498 to you if they have told you the RMD amount in some other way. They are allowed to include the number on your December or January statement or send you a letter or post a message in your online account. Even if they don't send it to you, they are still required to send it to the IRS, so they always generate one.

Whoever you talked to at T. Rowe Price should certainly know this information. If you have an account rep, I would contact them directly and complain.

Also, you can verify that the IRS got a 5498 from TRP last year by downloading your IRS transcripts directly from them. I'm pretty sure the box 12b number will be in the transcript too.

 

[Car-Guy]

It's the first year TT has asked for this IIRC (or maybe it just knows I'm now eligible) A little surprised but fortunately I keep track of my account(s) value at the end of each month. So, I just looked at the 12/31/25 entry for my IRA's.

 

[Souschef]

Some time ago I downloaded the RMD table and put it in a spreadsheet. All I have to do every year is enter the year end numbers and the spreadsheet calculates the RMD.

 

[RetiredHappy]

Some time ago I downloaded the RMD table and put it in a spreadsheet. All I have to do every year is enter the year end numbers and the spreadsheet calculates the RMD.

That is what I do, I have a spreadsheet that captures year end IRA accounts value and also incorporates the RMD table, which calculates RMD for each year.

 

[marko]

Thanks all. TRPrice just got back to me with the 2025 number. Its the same amount that I manually calculated.

Going forward I just need to remember to write down the amount in January. Actually, the number is available until December 31 as they show me a chart of my progress in reaching my RMD.

My withdrawals always will exceed my RMD anyway so while I'm not worried about under withdrawing, I just didn't know that I needed that number for my taxes.

 

[SecondCor521]

My withdrawals always will exceed my RMD anyway so while I'm not worried about under withdrawing, I just didn't know that I needed that number for my taxes.

You sort of do and sort of don't.

If you take your RMD (or more), the RMD amount itself is not reported anywhere on your tax return.

However, if you don't take your RMD, then there is an excess accumulation penalty on Form 5329, where the RMD amount is necessary to figure your penalty.

 

[audreyh1]

Thanks all. TRPrice just got back to me with the 2025 number. Its the same amount that I manually calculated.

Going forward I just need to remember to write down the amount in January. Actually, the number is available until December 31 as they show me a chart of my progress in reaching my RMD.

My withdrawals always will exceed my RMD anyway so while I'm not worried about under withdrawing, I just didn't know that I needed that number for my taxes.

I think this is a brand new thing that TurboTax started tracking annual RMDs. I wonder what bright that change about and how customers feel about it. It’s certainly required no where on the 1040 form, so really no reason for TT to ask about. I wonder what they are up to…….

ETA: I had missed SecondCor521’s post about the penalty. Still, it’s interesting that TT is just now adding this? Or is this just the first time I’ve heard of it?

 

[CalBird]

Would the brokerage company only report the RMD based on the account in its company? If you have multiple accounts spread across different companies, you will still need to add them together. I assume as long as your total withdrawal covers the RMD of all your IRA/401k, you should be fine.

 

[marko]

You sort of do and sort of don't.

If you take your RMD (or more), the RMD amount itself is not reported anywhere on your tax return.

However, if you don't take your RMD, then there is an excess accumulation penalty on Form 5329, where the RMD amount is necessary to figure your penalty.

I wasn't able to proceed in TT without filling that box.

 

[SecondCor521]

I wasn't able to proceed in TT without filling that box.

Right.

You don't need that number to do your taxes.

You do need that number to do your taxes using TurboTax.

 

[marko]

Right.

You don't need that number to do your taxes.

You do need that number to do your taxes using TurboTax.

Seems to be the case. It's my first year with RMDs so I had never seen it before, assuming that TT picked up on my age.

 

[Dalton]

H&R Block software has been asking for it for at least the last 5 years, since I started doing my parents taxes, and it even asks me on my taxes for the amount (it gets to the amount prompt by first asking if the IRA/401k distribution is an RMD, and I'm definitely not RMD age yet, but have an inherited IRA.

I also added a column in my retirement spreadsheet that has the RMD divisor in it for each year, and a column that calculates the RMD, and a footnote with the RMD equation in it, so I don't have to go to the IRS site to look it up and/or refresh my memory every year.

I believe those RMD divisor tables change from time to time (can someone confirm, please?), when the life expectancy they use changes, though, so that's one of the things on my radar when looking at forum topics and watching youtube videos that are discussing all the tax changes for the upcoming year, etc. I take substantially more $ than the RMD requires, also, so even if the divisor changes a little, I won't be in violation due to overaccumulation.

 

[Car-Guy]

I wasn't able to proceed in TT without filling that box.

Just use zero and you can continue. Go back later and update it when you have the right number (if needed)

 

[SecondCor521]

I believe those RMD divisor tables change from time to time (can someone confirm, please?), when the life expectancy they use changes, though, so that's one of the things on my radar when looking at forum topics and watching youtube videos that are discussing all the tax changes for the upcoming year, etc. I take substantially more $ than the RMD requires, also, so even if the divisor changes a little, I won't be in violation due to overaccumulation.

They did change the tables once several years ago. When they made that change, the RMDs went down, so you would have been safe with the old divisor.

I suppose it's theoretically possible that they could change the tables again and the RMDs would increase, but that's a pretty small chance and it would likely be publicized well.