Taxes on an RMD

[Don S]

I am retired and collecting Social Security as my only means of income for the current time. I will be turning 72 in August and need to take my first RMD on my IRA. I am assuming that I will need to send in the taxes on that distribution. Would I send that payment into the IRS as a quarterly tax payment?

[VolvoGirl]

You can or just have the IRA withhold taxes out.  Although it depends on how much total income you will have for the year.  You may not need to pay any tax if your income is low.

Up to 85% of Social Security becomes taxable when all your other income plus 1/2 your social security, reaches:

Married Filing Jointly: $32,000

Single or head of household: $25,000

Married Filing Separately: 0

[drc845443 · Accepted solution]

It is likely that you will need to pay taxes on the distribution, depending on the amount and your filing status.

You can either:

• request your broker to withhold taxes from the distribution and pay the amounts over to the IRS and state, or 
• you can just make the quarterly payments to the IRS (use Form 1040-ES) and the state 

It is much easier for the broker to withhold a  percentage of the distribution.