Correcting Missed 2018 RMD

Submitted by MIKE KRUCHTEN on Mon, 2019-04-01 15:14

Client became ill at end of 2018 and passed away early 2019. He never removed his 2018 RMD. IRA account in process of being moved to spouses name then I plan to immediately take 2018 RMD amount and his 2019 RMD amount. CPA is inquiring about tax withholding for 2018 RMD which I found odd since the income(missed 2018 RMD amount) will show in 2019 or am I missing something??

Surviving spouse is two years younger than deceased spouse. I assume she must take deceased spouses higher 2019 RMD since he was alive in 2019 then take RMD’s of her life expectancy starting in 2010?



Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Mon, 2019-04-01 18:01

  • Yes, there cannot be withholding from income not received in a given year. Technically, the spouse is not responsible for the delinquent 2018 RMD since that was not the year of death. That said, to erase any chance that the IRS could levy a penalty on the decedent for missing the 2018 RMD and they are filing jointly, perhaps distributing the 2018 RMD and filing a 2018 5329 for him to request the penalty waiver for being late will eliminate the small chance of the IRS applying the penalty.  The surviving spouse is responsible for the 2019 RMD that the decedent would have been responsible for.
  • If the surviving spouse is over 59.5, the election to assume ownership should be done ASAP. This will not affect the year of death RMD, but for 2010 the surviving spouse will use the Uniform Table as the owner of the IRA. These RMDs as owner will always be much lower than beneficiary RMDs.

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