Ask the Editor — Reader Questions on QCDs

Each week, in our Ask the Editor series, Joy Taylor, The Kiplinger Tax Letter Editor, answers questions on topics submitted by readers. This week, she’s looking at five questions on qualified charitable distributions. (Get a free issue of The Kiplinger Tax Letter or subscribe.)

1: QCDs and 401(k)

Reader Question: Can I make a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) from my 401(k) this year?

Joy Taylor, Editor, The Kiplinger Tax Letter
No, QCDs cannot be done from a 401(k) or other workplace retirement plan. A QCD can only be done from an IRA.
People age 70½ and older can transfer up to $108,000 in 2025 from a traditional IRA directly to charity. QCDs can count as all or part of your required minimum distribution (RMD), but they are not taxable, and they are not added to your adjusted gross income. The QCD strategy is a good way to get tax savings from charitable gifts for taxpayers not itemizing because of higher standard deductions.

2: How to do a QCD

Reader Question: Someone told me that the only way I can do a QCD is for my IRA custodian to directly transfer the money from the IRA account to the charity. Is this true?

Joy Taylor, Editor, The Kiplinger Tax Letter
It depends on the IRA custodian. It is true that only transfers from your IRA directly to charity are considered QCDs, but different IRA custodians have their own procedures for complying with this. Some will require that the check go directly from the custodian to the charity. Others will, at the account owner’s request, have the check written from the IRA account and send the check to the IRA owner to forward to the charity. Vanguard, for example, allows this second approach. Both procedures work for QCDs. What is not acceptable is for the custodian to write the check to the IRA owner, who then deposits the money and writes a check from his or her own account to the charity.

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3: Charitable Gift Annuity

Reader Question: I’ve been receiving requests from my alma mater about doing a QCD through a charitable gift annuity. I thought QCDs could only go to a section 501(c)(3) charity. Have the rules changed?

Joy Taylor, Editor, The Kiplinger Tax Letter
As a general rule, in a QCD, the money must generally go to a section 501(c)(3) organization. The 2022 SECURE 2.0 legislation provided an easing to this. It allows IRA owners to do a one-time (not annual) QCD of up to $55,000 for 2025 through a charitable gift annuity, charitable remainder unitrust or a charitable remainder annuity trust. Many private colleges with charitable gift annuity programs are touting the QCD option. If you already did this in 2023 or 2024, you can’t do it again.

4: Deductible IRA Contributions

Reader Question: I am working and made a tax-deductible contribution of $3,500 to my traditional IRA in 2024. I also did a QCD that year. My accountant told me that I don’t get the full advantage of the QCD because I also contributed to my IRA. Is that true?

Joy Taylor, Editor, The Kiplinger Tax Letter
Yes. There’s a special rule if you do a QCD and you make tax-deductible contributions to a traditional IRA after 70½. Essentially, these post-70½ contributions reduce your allowable tax-free QCD amount until used up. Post-70½ deductible contributions to a SEP or SIMPLE IRA aren’t affected.
Let’s take a simple example:
A 75-year-old working man is planning to do a QCD for the first time in 2025. For 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, he made tax-deductible contributions to his traditional IRA totaling $23,000. In 2025, the man does a QCD and transfers $20,000 from his IRA directly to charity. He would owe income tax on the full $20,000 because it is less than the $23,000 of post-70½ tax-deductible IRA contributions. Let’s say that in 2026, he then transfers another $15,000 to charity directly from his IRA. $12,000 will be a nontaxable QCD, and $3,000 will be treated as a normal distribution.

5: What's the maximum QCD for spouses?

Reader Question: My wife and I want to max out donations from our IRAs to charity this year. What is the maximum QCD we can make for 2025?

Joy Taylor, Editor, The Kiplinger Tax Letter
$108,000 per IRA owner. Since you are married, you and your spouse can each potentially give up to $108,000 in QCDs from your separate IRAs, making the maximum QCD $216,000, provided each of you has substantial amounts in your IRAs. But let’s say you have a $70,000 balance in your IRA, and your wife has an IRA worth $1.2 million. In this situation, your QCD cap is limited to $70,000, and your wife’s QCD cap is limited to $108,000. Your wife won’t be able to make a QCD of $146,000 to make up for the deficit.

About Ask the Editor, Taxes

Subscribers of The Kiplinger Tax Letter and The Kiplinger Letter can ask Joy questions about tax topics. You'll find full details of how to submit questions in The Kiplinger Tax Letter and The Kiplinger Letter. (Subscribe to The Kiplinger Tax Letter or The Kiplinger Letter.)

We have already received many questions from readers on topics related to charitable contributions, gifts and more. We’ll answer some of these in a future Ask the Editor round-up. So keep those questions coming!

Disclaimer

Not all questions submitted will be published, and some may be condensed and/or combined with other similar questions and answers, as required editorially. The answers provided by our editors and experts, in this Q&A series, are for general informational purposes only. While we take reasonable precautions to ensure we provide accurate answers to your questions, this information does not and is not intended to, constitute independent financial, legal, or tax advice. You should not act, or refrain from acting, based on any information provided in this feature. You should consult with a financial or tax advisor regarding any questions you may have in relation to the matters discussed in this article.