Year-End Money Deadlines 2026: What Must Be Done by December 31 and What Can Wait

Thursday, Dec. 31, 2026 is the date most year-end money moves are due, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). That covers a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) for the year and cash gifts to charity. Other items, such as Individual Retirement Account (IRA) contributions, wait until April 2027. The dated table and a printable checklist below separate the two groups.

Year-end money deadlines in date order

Date	What	Who it applies to	Source
Mon., Dec. 7, 2026	Medicare Open Enrollment ends (it began Oct. 15); changes take effect Jan. 1	People changing Medicare health or drug coverage	Medicare.gov
Tue., Dec. 15, 2026	Enroll in a new Marketplace plan for coverage starting Jan. 1	HealthCare.gov states; state-run exchanges may differ	HealthCare.gov
Thu., Dec. 31, 2026	Take the 2026 RMD	Account owners required to take one	IRS RMD FAQs
Thu., Dec. 31, 2026	Make cash gifts that count for 2026	Donors	IRS Topic 506
Thu., Dec. 31, 2026	Check the health Flexible Spending Account (FSA) rules	FSA holders	IRS Publication 969
Fri., Jan. 15, 2027	Pay 2026 estimated tax (fourth payment); last day to enroll in a Marketplace plan for Feb. 1 coverage	People who pay estimated tax; Marketplace shoppers	IRS; HealthCare.gov
Mon., Mar. 15, 2027	End of an FSA grace period, if the plan has one	FSA holders with a grace-period plan	IRS Publication 969
Thu., Apr. 1, 2027	Latest date for a first RMD that was delayed	People who turned 73 in 2026	IRS RMD FAQs
Thu., Apr. 15, 2027	Last day to make 2026 IRA contributions	IRA savers	Draft 2026 Form 8606 instructions

The March 15 row is the end of a 2 1/2 month grace period for a calendar-year plan. The grace-period length comes from Publication 969; the March date is our count.

What is the RMD deadline for 2026?

The IRS RMD FAQs, reviewed Jan. 29, 2026, say you must take your first RMD for the year in which you reach age 73. You can delay that first one until April 1 of the following year. Later RMDs are due by Dec. 31 each year, which makes Thursday, Dec. 31, 2026 the date for anyone past the first-year RMD.

Delaying the first RMD has a catch. If you take it on April 1, 2027, you will also owe the 2027 RMD by Dec. 31, 2027, so two RMDs land in the same tax year.

A missed RMD “may be subject to an excise tax of 25%,” the IRS says, reduced to 10% if the amount is corrected in time.

Which deadlines wait until 2027?

Several do. The IRS’s draft 2026 Form 8606 instructions say 2026 IRA contributions can be made until the filing deadline, Thursday, April 15, 2027. The IRS estimated tax page says to pay 2026 estimated tax by Jan. 15, 2027, a Friday.

Workplace plans are different. Elective deferrals to a 401(k) come out of pay, so changes need to be made with your employer before the final 2026 paycheck.

What are the 2026 contribution limits?

The IRS set these in Notice 2025-67. The 2027 limits have not yet been announced by the IRS; our story on 2027 tax brackets and 401(k) and Health Savings Account (HSA) limits tracks them.

Account	2026 limit
401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans and the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP): elective deferral	$24,500 (up from $23,500)
Catch-up, age 50 and over	$8,000 (up from $7,500)
Catch-up, ages 60 to 63	$11,250
IRA	$7,500 (up from $7,000)
IRA catch-up, age 50 and over	$1,100 ($8,600 in total)

How do health FSA rules work at year end?

Revenue Procedure 2025-32 sets the 2026 health FSA limit at $3,400 and the maximum carryover at $680 if the plan allows carryover. Publication 969 adds that a plan may offer a grace period of up to 2 1/2 months after the plan year, and a plan with carryover cannot also have a grace period. Which one your plan uses is in your plan documents, so check before Dec. 31.

Which charity gifts count for 2026?

A gift counts for 2026 when it is made by Dec. 31. IRS Topic 506, updated Sept. 24, 2026, says that beginning with tax year 2026, if you do not itemize, you may deduct up to $1,000 ($2,000 if filing jointly) of cash contributions to certain qualified organizations.

The IRS Working Families Tax Cuts page, updated Oct. 22, 2026, says donations to donor-advised funds and supporting organizations do not qualify. Our Giving Tuesday story covers how to check a charity.

The gift tax annual exclusion for 2026 is $19,000 per recipient, according to Revenue Procedure 2025-32.

Which health coverage dates fall in December?

Medicare Open Enrollment runs Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, with changes effective Jan. 1, per Medicare.gov. HealthCare.gov says to enroll by Dec. 15 in a new plan for coverage to start Jan. 1. Open Enrollment for 2027 runs Nov. 1 to Jan. 15, and enrolling by Jan. 15 gives coverage starting Feb. 1. Details are in our Affordable Care Act (ACA) open enrollment 2027 story; state-run exchanges may differ.

Mark these dates on the December 2026 printable calendar and the January 2027 printable calendar, or use the printable yearly calendar for the full span.