See how a Qualified Charitable Distribution from your IRA can satisfy your RMD, cut your taxable income, and lower your MAGI (which helps with Medicare IRMAA). ✓ 2026 figures
Charitable IRA giving • Tax saved
A Qualified Charitable Distribution lets people 70½+ donate up to about $108,000 (2025, indexed) directly from an IRA to charity. The gift counts toward your Required Minimum Distribution but is excluded from taxable income — unlike a normal RMD plus a separate donation. Because it lowers your AGI and MAGI, a QCD can also reduce Medicare IRMAA surcharges and the taxation of Social Security, and it benefits you even if you take the standard deduction. Estimate only; not tax advice.
A qualified charitable distribution sends money directly from an IRA to a charity, and it is one of the most tax-efficient gifts available to anyone over 70½. The mechanism matters: because the money never enters your income, it is excluded rather than deducted. That is better than a deduction for three reasons — it works even if you take the standard deduction, it lowers adjusted gross income rather than taxable income, and a lower AGI can reduce Medicare IRMAA surcharges and the taxable share of Social Security. It also counts toward your required minimum distribution.
QCD limit: $105,000 per person per year (indexed)Taxable IRA income = RMD − QCD amountAGI reduction = QCD amount (an exclusion, not a deduction)Must transfer DIRECTLY from custodian to qualifying charitywhere:
Assumptions: Must go directly from custodian to charity — taking the money first and donating it does not qualify. Donor-advised funds and private foundations are excluded. Applies to IRAs, not to 401(k)s.
SourceIRS Publication 590-B
Compare a QCD with writing a cheque after taking the full distribution.
Result$4,400 of tax saved — the same $20,000 reaches the charity
The saving exists purely because of how the money moves. Since roughly 90% of taxpayers now take the standard deduction, charitable giving produces no tax benefit for most people — the QCD is the main exception, and it also lowers AGI, which can reduce IRMAA surcharges two years later.