Qualified Charitable Distributions: Giving Straight From an IRA

What a QCD is

A qualified charitable distribution is a direct transfer from your IRA to a qualifying charity, made by the IRA trustee, that is excluded from your gross income (IRC § 408(d)(8)). You must be at least 70½ at the time of the transfer, the money must go directly from the IRA to the charity (not through your hands), and the recipient must be an eligible public charity — not a donor-advised fund and not, in the ordinary case, a private foundation. A QCD also counts toward your required minimum distribution for the year, which is much of its appeal.

Why it beats taking the money and deducting the gift

The intuition “I’ll just withdraw and donate, then deduct it” usually leaves money on the table. Because a QCD is excluded from income rather than deducted, it lowers your adjusted gross income directly — which can reduce taxes on Social Security, hold down Medicare premiums (IRMAA), and keep you under other AGI-based thresholds. It also works fully for people who take the standard deduction and would get little or nothing from itemizing.

The 2026 limits

For 2026 you can direct up to $111,000 per person in QCDs (a married couple with separate IRAs can each do so). The limit, once a fixed $100,000, is now indexed for inflation (Rev. Proc. 2025-32). There is no minimum, and a QCD can satisfy some or all of your RMD for the year, up to the annual cap.

The one-time split-interest election

The SECURE 2.0 law added a one-time opportunity: you may make a single QCD of up to $55,000 for 2026 to fund a charitable gift annuity or a charitable remainder trust (IRC § 408(d)(8)(F)). This is a lifetime, once-only election, and the $55,000 counts inside the $111,000 annual limit, not on top of it. It lets IRA money create a lifetime income stream through a charity — but the resulting payments are taxed differently (generally as ordinary income), so it is a specific tool for a specific goal, not a default.

The traps

• The age is 70½, not 73. QCD eligibility starts at 70½, even though the RMD age is now 73 — so there is a window where you can do QCDs before RMDs even begin.
• It must be a direct transfer. If the money passes through your own account first, it is a taxable distribution, not a QCD. The trustee must send it to the charity.
• Not to a DAF or (usually) a private foundation. Donor-advised funds and most private foundations are not eligible QCD recipients.
• The post-70½ IRA-contribution offset. If you make deductible IRA contributions after age 70½, an anti-abuse rule reduces the amount you can treat as a QCD by those contributions — so contributing and QCD-ing in the same era needs care.

Sources & methodology