Updated October 19, 2026. Quick answer: Publication 590-B is the IRS guide to taking money out of a traditional or Roth IRA, and the web edition is for 2025 returns. It says that you must begin receiving required minimum distributions by April 1 of the year following the year you reach age 73. A 10% additional tax generally applies before age 59 and a half.
Quick reference
| Item | As the IRS publication states it |
|---|---|
| Age for required minimum distributions (chapter 1) | age 73 |
| Additional tax on early distributions (chapter 1) | 10% before age 59½ |
| Excise tax on an RMD not taken (chapter 1) | 25% |
| Maximum annual exclusion for QCDs (chapter 1) | $108,000 |
| First home exception to the 10% tax (chapter 1) | up to $10,000 |
| Roth IRA qualified distribution waiting period (chapter 2) | 5-year period |
What the publication covers
The introduction says “This publication discusses distributions from individual retirement arrangements (IRAs).” It points readers to Publication 590-A with “For information about contributions to an IRA, see Pub. 590-A.” The IRS cover line reads “For use in preparing 2025 Returns”.
It also says “This publication discusses traditional and Roth IRAs.” Further, “It also explains the penalties and additional taxes that apply when the rules aren’t followed.”
Chapters in plain words
- Chapter 1, traditional IRAs: when assets can be withdrawn, required minimum distributions for owners and beneficiaries, which distributions are taxable, qualified charitable distributions, and early distributions.
- Chapter 2, Roth IRAs: which distributions are qualified and what happens to ones that are not.
- Chapter 3, qualified disaster recovery distributions.
- Appendices, with the worksheets and tables listed below.
Worksheets and tables inside it
- Table I-1, Using This Publication, and Table I-2, How Are a Traditional IRA and a Roth IRA Different?
- Worksheet 1-1, Figuring the Taxable Part of Your IRA Distribution
- Figure 2-1, Is the Distribution from Your Roth IRA a Qualified Distribution?
- Appendices A-1, A-2 and A-3, worksheets for determining required minimum distributions
- Appendix B, Life Expectancy Tables: Table I (Single Life Expectancy), Table II (Joint Life and Last Survivor Expectancy), Table III (Uniform Lifetime)
- Appendix C, the Recapture Amount Allocation Chart, and Appendix D, the Qualified Charitable Deduction (QCD) Adjustment Worksheet
This site has an RMD calculator page and the RMD table for the life expectancy side, and Form 8606 for the nontaxable part of a distribution.
The figures that matter
On required minimum distributions, the publication says “Yes. You must begin receiving required minimum distributions by April 1 of the year following the year you reach age 73.”
Once you are past that age, “The required minimum distribution for any year after the year you reach age 73 must be made by December 31 of that later year.”
If you fall short, “you may have to pay a 25% excise tax for that year on the amount not distributed as required.”
On early withdrawals, the source says “Generally, if you are under age 59½, you must pay a 10% additional tax on the distribution of any assets (money or other property) from your traditional IRA.”
On charitable gifts, it says “The maximum annual exclusion for QCDs is $108,000.”
On buying a home, “you don’t have to pay the 10% additional tax on up to $10,000 of distributions you receive to buy, build, or rebuild a first home.”
For Roth IRAs, the first test for a qualified distribution reads “It is made after the 5-year period beginning with the first tax year for which a contribution was made to a Roth IRA set up for your benefit.”
Optional adviser-matching service
Plan your IRA withdrawals
For U.S. investors with $250,000 or more in investable assets. Want help with the investment plan behind these withdrawals? Request adviser introductions through WiserAdvisor.
This is investment-adviser matching, not tax-return preparation.
WiserAdvisor is an independent matching service. Free to request, with no obligation to hire. Request up to three adviser introductions; a match is not guaranteed. Submitting its form allows calls, texts and emails from WiserAdvisor and up to three advisers.
Clear Money Guide may earn a referral payment for a qualifying completed form. Advisers pay for introductions; an introduction is not a Clear Money Guide recommendation.
Compare investment advisersOpens on WiserAdvisor’s site in a new tab.
Where to go next
The early withdrawal exceptions are listed in the source, and this site walks through them on early withdrawal penalty exceptions. For inherited accounts see inherited IRA rules, and for Roth timing see the two Roth five year rules.
Where this comes from
The IRS page About Publication 590-B opens with “Publication 590-B discusses distributions from individual retirement arrangements (IRAs).” It links the PDF and eBook editions and the earlier revisions of the publication.
This page describes the web edition of Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs), as served on irs.gov on October 19, 2026. The IRS can revise a publication after we read it, and the IRS page controls. General information, not tax or legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Treating the 10% additional tax and the 25% excise tax as the same penalty. The source applies the 10% additional tax to early distributions and the 25% excise tax to an RMD that was not taken.
- Assuming a rollover can satisfy an RMD. The source says “Amounts that must be distributed (required minimum distributions) during a particular year aren’t eligible for rollover treatment.”
- Using one 5-year clock for everything in a Roth IRA. The source says “The 5-year period used for determining whether the 10% additional tax on early distributions applies to a distribution from a conversion or rollover contribution, is separately determined for each conversion and rollover”.
- Looking here for how to make a contribution. The publication sends that question to Publication 590-A.
Related: IRS publications by number, RMD calculator, RMD table for 2026, QCD limit for 2026, Form 5329 explained, Inherited IRA rules, and Form 1040 line 4a and 4b, IRA distributions.
Sources
- IRS, Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (irs.gov): https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590b
- IRS, About Publication 590-B (irs.gov): https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-590-b
Read from the IRS pages linked above on October 19, 2026. General information, not tax or legal advice. The IRS publication and the instructions for your own form control, and your own facts decide the outcome.