--- title: How Required Minimum Distributions Can Raise the Tax on Your Social Security description: Required minimum distributions (RMDs) can potentially raise your Social Security taxes. Here's what to know and how to lower your tax bill. authors: - name: Marc Guberti url: https://money.com/author/marc-guberti/ bio: Marc Guberti is a personal finance writer who hosts Breakthrough Success, a podcast where he teaches listeners how to grow their businesses and achieve personal transformations. at_money_since: 2024 articles: 457 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes published: '2026-11-03T14:00:12.000Z' section: Retirement word_count: 539 canonical: https://money.com/rmds-social-security-taxes/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![US tax documents with fake US currency and SSN card](https://img.money.com/2026/10/Explainer-Min-Distribution-Social-Security.jpg) Retirement savers typically need to start taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) around age 73, though the exact age depends on when you were born. RMDs can have an immediate impact on your Social Security benefits. Here’s how RMDs can impact your taxes and how to plan ahead in order to potentially lower your tax bill. ## The basics of RMDs The RMD age takes effect depending on when you were born, but the calculation for determining your minimum withdrawal requirement remains the same. You will have to divide the balance in your retirement savings accounts that are subject to RMDs as of Dec. 31 of the prior year by the IRS’s life expectancy factor. As you get older, the life expectancy factor changes, resulting in a higher withdrawal rate each year. For instance, the IRS lists 20.2 as the life expectancy factor for an 80-year-old. If this 80-year-old had $1 million in a traditional 401(k), here’s how you calculate the RMD: RMD = $1 million / life expectancy factor RMD = $1 million / 20.2 RMD = $49,504.95 Required minimum distributions do not apply to Roth accounts. You must only make withdrawals from traditional plans, such as traditional 401(k)s and traditional IRAs. ## The domino effect It doesn’t take much of an RMD to push you into a higher income bracket, especially when it comes to combined income for the Social Security calculation. Once your combined income reaches a certain threshold, up to 85% of your Social Security benefits can be taxed. A single filer who exceeds $34,000 in combined income — and a married couple who exceeds $44,000 — will have to pay taxes on up to 85% of their Social Security benefits. Combined income is your adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest plus 50% of your Social Security benefits. RMDs count as adjusted gross income. ## How to potentially lower your tax bill One way to potentially lower your taxes is to space out your withdrawals over multiple years. Qualified charitable distributions also allocate some of your money to a good cause while reducing your taxable income. Qualified longevity annuities contract (QLAC) can kick the ball further down the road, letting you defer realized taxes on some of your RMD until you turn 85. That’s when you must start taking distributions from a QLAC, but some people start earlier. If you are still several years away from turning 73, you can use Roth conversions. Moving a small amount of your traditional 401(k) to a Roth IRA each year can spread the tax hit over time and minimize the impact on Social Security benefits by the time RMDs take effect. ## Why you shouldn’t skip RMDs Although RMDs will increase your taxable income, it’s worse if you avoid them. The IRS will charge a 25% penalty for missing your RMD. However, that penalty will be reduced to 10% if the mistake is corrected within two years. You have until April 1 of the following year to take your first RMD. Every subsequent year, the deadline is December 31 of the same year. Forecasting your projected RMD can help you determine how much you should move to a Roth each year to minimize the tax impact, and what other measures may be necessary. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/rmds-social-security-taxes/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Retirement", "item": "https://money.com/retirement/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Social Security", "item": "https://money.com/social-security/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "How Required Minimum Distributions Can Raise the Tax on Your Social Security" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/rmds-social-security-taxes/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/rmds-social-security-taxes/", "name": "How Required Minimum Distributions Can Raise the Tax on Your Social Security", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2026-11-03T14:00:12.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/rmds-social-security-taxes/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/rmds-social-security-taxes/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "How Required Minimum Distributions Can Raise the Tax on Your Social Security", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2026/10/Explainer-Min-Distribution-Social-Security.jpg", "width": 2308, "height": 1298, "caption": "Explainer-Min-Distribution-Social-Security" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marc Guberti", "url": "https://money.com/author/marc-guberti/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/marc-guberti/#author", "description": "Marc Guberti is a personal finance writer who hosts Breakthrough Success, a podcast where he teaches listeners how to grow their businesses and achieve personal transformations.", "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2026-11-03T14:00:12.000Z", "description": "Required minimum distributions (RMDs) can potentially raise your Social Security taxes. 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