Qualified charitable distributions: giving from your IRA tax-free

If you give to charity and you have a traditional IRA, there is a way to give that can lower your tax bill even if you do not itemize. It is called a qualified charitable distribution, or QCD. The rules are in IRS Publication 590-B, and the yearly limits are set in IRS notices.

What a QCD is

A QCD is money that goes straight from your IRA to a charity. The trustee of your IRA makes the payment directly to an organization that can receive tax-deductible contributions. The money never passes through your hands.

Because it goes directly to the charity, a QCD is generally not taxable. An ordinary withdrawal from a traditional IRA counts as income. A QCD does not.

Who can make one

You must be at least 70½ on the day the distribution is made. That is not the same as the age for required minimum distributions, which is 73. You can start making QCDs a few years before RMDs begin.

QCDs come from IRAs. The publication excludes ongoing SEP and SIMPLE IRAs.

How much you can give

There is a yearly cap on how much can be excluded from income this way:

• $111,000 for 2026.
• $114,000 for 2027.

Anything above the cap is treated like any other distribution and counts as income. If you file a joint return, your spouse can also make QCDs from their own IRA and exclude up to the same amount.

It counts toward your RMD

This is the reason many people use QCDs. Once required minimum distributions start, a QCD counts toward the amount you have to take out. Say your RMD for the year is $8,000 and you send $5,000 to charities as QCDs. You have $3,000 left to withdraw, and the $5,000 was never added to your income.

The RMD calculator shows your required amount for this year and the next ones.

You cannot deduct it as well

The tax benefit is that the money stays out of your income. You cannot also claim a charitable deduction for a QCD that was not included in your income. One benefit, not two.

Why it can beat writing a check

If you take the standard deduction, a check to charity gives you no tax break, because you are not itemizing. A QCD works either way, since it keeps the money out of your income in the first place.

Keeping income down can matter beyond your tax bracket. Your income decides how much of your Social Security is taxable, and whether you pay the higher Medicare premiums known as IRMAA. See how Social Security is taxed and the IRMAA guide.

Keep the paperwork

You need the same kind of written acknowledgment from the charity that you would need to claim a deduction for the gift. The IRS points to the substantiation rules in Publication 526.

If your IRA has after-tax money in it

A QCD is limited to the part of the distribution that would otherwise be taxable. If your IRA includes nondeductible contributions, the distribution is treated as coming first from the taxable part.

A one-time gift through a split-interest entity

There is also a one-time election to send a QCD to a charitable remainder annuity trust, a charitable remainder unitrust or a charitable gift annuity. The limit for that single gift is $55,000 for 2026 and $57,000 for 2027. For a charitable gift annuity, the annuity must begin paying fixed payments of 5% or more within a year of being funded.

How to do it in practice

1. Check that you will be at least 70½ on the date of the gift.
2. Ask your IRA custodian for a qualified charitable distribution. The payment has to go from the IRA to the charity, not to you first.
3. Get a written acknowledgment from the charity.
4. Keep track of the total so you stay under the yearly limit.