dmertz
Level 15

Retirement tax questions

Taking distributions based on your life expectancy is the default unless the IRA custodial agreement says otherwise.  As long as the IRA custodial agreement does not dictate that the 5-year rule applies under the circumstances, by making up the late 2016 life-expectancy based RMD, you can "restore the stretch."  If you do this, you'll also need to request a waiver of the excess accumulation penalty on this late distribution on 2016 Form 5329.  (Unless you have another reason that 2016 TurboTax would ask about RMDs, TurboTax does not provide the ability to prepare this Form 5329 for inclusion with your e-filed tax return; you'll need to prepare this Form 5329 manually and mail it with your tax return.)  If you choose to stick with distributing the entire IRA before the end of 2020 under the 5-year rule, no Form 5329 is required.