How to record a 2018 first MRD made in 2019

[jtjudson]

This is the first time I am required to take a Minimum Required Distribution. I turned 701/2 in December 2018, but had until April 2019 by law to take out my first distribution, which happened in January 2019. When answering the Turbotax questions about the MRD, it asks if you took your 2018 distribution. Because of the delay in taking that 2018 distribution which occurred during the 2019 tax year, the answer would be no for 2018 income.  However, if I do that, the program thinks I am delinquent in taking the MRD and calculates a 50% tax rate. There is another space where I can explain why it wasn't taken out in 2018 for the IRS to review but that seems more like a space to explain why you didn't take the distribution at all. I don't want to be flagged for an audit. Is there a better way to answer this question so that Turbotax calculates my tax burden correctly? I will be reporting my 2018 and 2019 required distributions for my 2019 taxes. 

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

In the questions that follow clicking the Continue button on the Your 1099-R Entries page, answer that you were not required to take an RMD for 2018.  TurboTax's answers to this question are badly worded with regard to delaying your first RMD.  Any answer other than "I did not take all of my RMD" will produce the correct result for this situation.