What’s the simple addition to see if IRMAA might be a problem?
Posted on November 28, 2025

My sister-in-law called and wanted me to help her understand how close she and her husband might be to crossing an IRMAA tripwire. I said I would send a spreadsheet. She said she did not know how to use a spreadsheet. I gave her the simple addition. She’ll add without consideration of QCD. If they cross an IRMAA tripwire, they could then use QCD to lower the taxable portion of their RMD. This post shows the addition you can use for your 2025 return to see if you might cross an IRMAA tripwire.

You can also plug in what your 2026 return might look like. Your RMD for 2026 may be roughly 10% greater than it was this year: if your portfolio mix is similar to ours, your portfolio is up about +15% year to date; your RMD that you will take soon (if you take it the way I do the first week of December – that’s Monday!) knocks off ~4%  of the amount you have now; and your RMD percentage will increase ~4%.

I also include updates to the 2025 tax templates I provided in August: I update to show greater surcharges if you cross an IRMAA tripwire. This one is for a single filer. This one is for married, joint filers.

== The addition to get to MAGI ==

MAGI for purposes of IRMAA on your 2024 return was line 11 + line 2a: Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) + Tax-Exempt interest. I display all the lines that add to AGI and MAGI. You can download a sheet here.

Add all your income before consideration of QCD to see if you cross an IRMAA tripwire. If you do, QCD will lower taxable income from RMD.

Conclusion: Those retirees with large Traditional IRAs and RMDs worry about IRMAA – the surcharge paid for Medicare B and D that are deductions from Social Security benefits. The tripwires are based on MAGI: that’s AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) + tax exempt interest on your tax return. This post provided lines on your tax return to estimate and add to see if you might cross a tripwire that will trigger a surcharge. If you do, you can sneak under the tripwire with QCD which lowers your taxable RMD.