A parent left me their IRA a few years ago, it has been a Beneficiary IRA, but the 2017 RMD was not taken until 2018. I'm in my mid-50s, so how do I handle this?

For each subsequent year after your required beginning date, you must withdraw your RMD by December 31.

If you do not take any distributions, or if the distributions are not large enough, you may have to pay a 50% excise tax on the amount not distributed as required, which is the difference between the amount that was required to be distributed and the amount that was actually distributed. The tax is due for the tax year that includes the last day by which the minimum required distribution must be taken.

You can request a waiver of the 50% penalty in Form 5329 Part IX. You will most likely get the waiver if the error was the fund company's fault and you take the distribution as soon as possible, or you have already taken it in 2018. To request a waiver you include Form 5329 and an explanation statement with your tax return. TurboTax will walk you through the upgrade and keep your data, the form is not available in the TurboTax Free Edition.

• To report the excise tax, you may have to file Form 5329, Additional Taxes on Qualified Plans (Including IRAs) and Other Tax-Favored Accounts.
• See the Form 5329 instructions for additional information about this tax.

More information is available at the links above and the one entered below.

• IRS Topic-Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)