Is there a special tax rate for a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) for a federal government Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)?

[Bud628]

My wife reached the age of 70 1/2 in 2017 and set up a RMD for her federal government TSP. She received a form 1099-R in January and the IRA/SEP/Simple box was not checked. Does that mean that the RMD from the TSP is considered as just regular income and taxed at the marginal tax rate or is there a special rate similar to Capital Gains or other special rates that would be used? It increased our Federal tax more than we were expecting with an RMD.

[LisaBr]

The IRA/SEP/SIMPLE box was not checked because your wife's TSP is a qualified plan and provided by her employer. 

The IRS taxes required minimum distributions at your income tax rate such as any other taxable income you receive.

For more information on RMD's, the following link from the IRS may be helpful:

https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-required-minimum-di...