Inherited IRA RMD status

[BillB]

 Father In Law passed away Oct 2020 at 102 . 5th 3rd Bank was Trustee of his assets for many years prior to and after his  death.  5th 3rd did NOT take his required RMD for 2020. My wife (now age 72 in 2022) received  1/3 of his IRA from the Bank in Apr 2021, which was an even split between 3 sisters .  Bank had created a Fiscal year on his last Federal tax filing from Oct 1 2020 to Sept 30 2021.

Questions:

1 What RMDs are we required to take and when?  Without penalty?

2 What is the basis/amount for these RMD withdrawals? (Is it 1/3 of fathers required RMD for 2021 (nothing for 2020 due to fiscal year creation?) at his factor (5.5), then wife's single factor 17 for 2022? 

3 Does Turbo Tax create a penalty waver request automatically for this?

[mikafeed58]

Thanks for Posting! IRS regulations require you to take RMDs no later than December 31st of the year following the year of death (December 31, 2021). Failure to take the RMD by that deadline are subject to a penalty equal to 50% of the the amount that should have been withdrawn. 

Since your father-in-law passed away after January 1 2020, in most cases you will need to distribute the IRA within 10 years. There are some exceptions to that rule if your are considered an "eligible designated beneficiary."

As for the basis of the Inherited IRA it would be 1/3 of the decedent's basis since it was split 3 ways. That information can typically be discerned from a prior tax return (Form 8606). 

Fortunately due to recent IRS legislation...Many beneficiaries of inherited IRAs subject to the 10-Year Rule did not take RMDs out in 2021 and 2022. The penalty for not meeting the RMD requirements is 50% of the amount required to be distributed. The IRS just announced that no penalties will apply for the failure to take RMDs subject to the new rules in 2021 and 2022. The penalty for not taking RMDs from an inherited IRA will first apply for the 2023 year.

For more information, please see the link below:

https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/required-minimum-distributions-for-ira-beneficiaries