"One can contribute to an IRA until April, can one still withdraw monies (Mar 2022) from an IRA to count as a 2021 distribution? "
Sorry, no, distributions belong to the year in which you actually take them (with the exception of the withdrawal of excess contributions).
And while we're on the subject of trying to match an IRA distribution to a certain amount while staying under the Standard Deduction, you may or may not be aware that the amount of Social Security that is taxable is variable, that is, it's based on the amount of SS income AND the amount of other income you have (like IRA distributions), up to 85% of what you receive..
Thus it can happen that while you withdraw a modest amount and plan to stay under the Standard Deduction, that suddenly more SS is taxable than you thought and you end up owing tax.
That is why I encourage every retiree who is on Social Security to do a test tax return before they give the order for a withdrawal for even a modest amount from their IRA (and certainly this must be done for a large IRA withdrawal).
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