Qualified charitable distribution checklist

By Tom, CPA · Updated October 27, 2026

Part of: Easy Tax Strategies

TL;DR: If you are 70½ or older and give to charity, a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) sends up to $111,000 for 2026 straight from your IRA to a charity. It counts toward your required minimum distribution, stays out of your AGI and works even if you take the standard deduction. Get the timing, the charity type and the paperwork right, or it becomes a taxable withdrawal.

Educational only, not tax, legal, or investment advice. Examples are illustrations, not predictions. Rules and limits change; verify current figures and talk to a qualified professional about your situation.

The qualified charitable distribution is the rare tax break that is both generous and boring, which is the best combination. No fancy entity, no appraisal, no 40-page memo. You tell your IRA custodian to send money to a charity, and that money is never taxed. For anyone past 70½ who gives to charity and takes the standard deduction (which is most retirees), it beats writing checks from checking by a mile.

But QCDs are also easy to bungle in small ways. Here's the checklist, with 2026 figures as of October 2026. For the deep dive, see the full QCD guide.

CPA Warning Label: The check must go from the IRA custodian to the charity. If the money touches your bank account first, it is a taxable distribution, not a QCD, and there is no do-over.

Step 1: Confirm you qualify

• Age: you must be at least 70½ on the date of the distribution, not just by year-end (Publication 590-B). Note this is earlier than the RMD age of 73 for most people today, so QCDs can start a few years before RMDs do.
• Account: a traditional IRA, including an inherited IRA if you're 70½. Ongoing SEP and SIMPLE IRAs (still receiving employer contributions) are not eligible. 401(k)s are not eligible; roll to an IRA first.
• Limit: $111,000 per person for 2026 (IRS Notice 2025-67). A married couple can each give up to $111,000 from their own IRAs.
• Deductible contributions after 70½: if you made deductible IRA contributions after reaching 70½, your QCD exclusion is reduced by those amounts. Most retirees don't have this issue, but check if you still have earned income.

Step 2: Pick an eligible charity

The recipient must be a public charity that could receive a deductible gift. The exclusions:

• No donor-advised funds. A QCD to a DAF is not a QCD.
• No private foundations (other than a few special types) and no supporting organizations.
• No personal benefit: if you'd get a gala dinner, tickets or anything else in return, the whole distribution can fail. Decline the perk in writing.

There's also a one-time election to send up to $55,000 for 2026 to a split-interest entity like a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder trust (CRT). It's niche, and the rules are stricter; get help if you use it.

Step 3: Time it with your RMD

• A QCD counts toward your required minimum distribution for the year (IRS RMD FAQs).
• Do the QCD first. The first dollars out of an IRA during the year are treated as satisfying the RMD. If you take your full RMD in January and then do a QCD in December, the QCD doesn't un-tax the January withdrawal.
• Deadline: the custodian must send the funds by December 31. Ask how they handle it: a check mailed by the custodian, a direct electronic payment, or a checkbook IRA where the charity must cash the check by year-end for it to count that year. Mid-December requests during holiday rush can miss the cutoff.

Step 4: Get the paperwork

• Written acknowledgment from the charity stating the amount and that no goods or services were provided. Get it before you file.
• Form 1099-R from the custodian will show the full amount as a normal distribution. Custodians may flag a QCD with the optional code Y in box 7 for 2026, but many won't, so your records matter.
• Report on Form 1040: enter the full amount on line 4a, the taxable portion (zero for the QCD part) on line 4b, and write "QCD" next to it, per the Form 1040 instructions.
• Tell your tax preparer or software, or the IRA distribution will be taxed in full. This is the most common QCD mistake.
• Don't also deduct it as a charitable gift. It's excluded from income instead.

Why QCDs beat check-writing

A QCD lowers AGI, while a deduction only lowers taxable income. That difference matters for several 2026 rules:

• Standard deduction users: 2026 lets non-itemizers deduct only $1,000 (single) or $2,000 (joint) of cash gifts. A QCD has no cap other than $111,000.
• Itemizers: starting in 2026, itemized charitable deductions count only above 0.5% of AGI, and the benefit is capped at 35% for top-bracket filers (Topic 506). QCDs avoid both.
• AGI-linked items: lower AGI can reduce how much Social Security is taxable, keep you under Medicare IRMAA tiers ($109,000 single / $218,000 joint for 2026 premiums, based on two-years-prior income) and protect the $6,000 senior deduction, which phases out above $75,000 / $150,000 MAGI.

Illustration

Pat, 74, single, has a $20,000 RMD, $30,000 of Social Security and $25,000 of pension income, and gives $8,000 a year to her church. Writing checks: AGI includes the full $20,000 RMD, she takes the standard deduction, and the gifts save her at most $1,000 of deduction under the new non-itemizer rule. With a QCD of $8,000: only $12,000 of the RMD is taxable, AGI drops by $8,000, and because her income is in the Social Security taxation zone, up to $6,800 more of her benefits ($8,000 × 85%) may stay untaxed too. At a 12% bracket, that's roughly $960 saved on the excluded RMD alone, and up to about $1,780 if the full $6,800 of benefits also stays untaxed. Same church, same $8,000, smaller tax bill.

Common mistakes

• Taking the RMD first, then trying a QCD to fix it.
• Sending to a DAF or private foundation.
• Withdrawing to checking and then writing a check.
• Not telling your preparer, so the 1099-R amount is taxed.
• Assuming a QCD from a 401(k) works. It doesn't; roll to an IRA first.
• Starting at 70 rather than 70½.

More: RMD planning, tax-efficient giving ranked, retiree easy tax wins and easy tax strategies.