What is a qualified charitable distribution from an IRA?
From age 70½, you can have your IRA pay a charity directly, up to $111,000 in 2026. The money isn’t taxed as income, so it helps whether or not you itemize, and it counts toward a required minimum distribution.
The rule
A qualified charitable distribution is money paid straight from your IRA by its trustee to a charity, once you are at least 70½. It isn’t added to your income, which is worth at least as much as a deduction, and it works the same whether you itemize or not.
The most for 2026 is $111,000 a person. A married couple can each give up to that from their own IRAs.
It counts toward your required minimum distribution for the year, so giving it this way can take the place of a withdrawal you would otherwise be taxed on.
Because the money is never in your income, you can’t also deduct it as a gift.
- Without itemizing
- Yes, it stays out of income
- If you itemize
- Yes, it stays out of income
- What to keep
- The charity’s written acknowledgment and the IRA’s Form 1099-R. On the return, the distribution is reported with nothing taxable and marked as a QCD.
- Watch for
- The money has to go from the IRA to the charity directly. A withdrawal you then give away is taxed as income, and the gift is deductible only if you itemize.
- It can’t go to a donor-advised fund or a supporting organization, or come from an ongoing SEP or SIMPLE IRA.
- IRA contributions you deducted after reaching 70½ reduce how much can be left out of income.
- You need the same acknowledgment from the charity as for a deductible gift.
Checked on October 2, 2026 against Publication 590-B, Distributions from IRAs, Notice 2025-67, 26 U.S.C. 408(d)(8), qualified charitable distributions and Publication 526, Charitable Contributions. An estimate for your records, not tax advice.
Federal tax only. States set their own rules for gifts.
Keep every gift with its receipt.
From 2026, up to $1,000 of cash gifts counts even without itemizing. Reimburse keeps each gift with the charity’s receipt, asks for the paper the IRS wants, and shows what it puts back.