A Special Opportunity for Those 70 ½ Years and Older: IRA Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs)
You can give any amount (up to a maximum of $105,000) per year from your Individual Retirement Account (IRA) directly to a qualified charity, such as the CDC Foundation, without having to pay income taxes on the money. This popular gift option is commonly called a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD), but you may also see it referred to as an IRA Charitable Rollover.
In addition, these distributions may help satisfy a donor’s required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year. Because the QCD offers an exclusion from taxable income rather than a deduction, this strategy is not limited to taxpayers who itemize their deductions. As a result, it may be used by non-itemizing donors who do not ordinarily receive any tax benefit for their charitable gifts.
To benefit from this gift opportunity, the following qualifications (among others) must be met:
- The donor must be age 70 ½ or older at the time of transfer.
- Effective January 1, 2024, the maximum amount a donor may transfer is $105,000.
- The gift must be transferred directly from the IRA account by the IRA administrator to the CDC Foundation. Donors with check-writing ability for their IRAs may use this feature to complete their gift.
Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are minimum amounts that IRA and retirement plan account owners generally must withdraw annually. The SECURE 1.0 & 2.0 Acts raised the age the you must begin taking RMDs from age 70 ½, to age 72 with SECURE 1.0, to age 73 with SECURE 2.0 (73 if you reach age 72 after Dec. 31, 2022). While IRA owners may still make tax-free QCDs beginning at age 70 ½, the QCDs will not also help satisfy their RMDs until they turn 72 (73 if you reach age 72 after Dec. 31, 2022) and are required to take RMDs. In addition, donors must now reduce their QCDs by the amount of any deductible contributions they make to their IRAs after age 70 ½.
Why Consider This Gift?
- Your gift will be put to use today, allowing you to see the difference your donation is making.
- Beginning in the year you turn 73, you can use your gift to satisfy all or part of your required minimum distribution (RMD).
- You pay no income taxes on the gift. The transfer generates neither taxable income nor a tax deduction, so you benefit even if you do not itemize your deductions.
- Since the gift does not count as income, it can reduce your annual income level. This may help lower your Medicare premiums and decrease the amount of Social Security that is subject to tax.
You can use tax-free IRA QCDs to make an outright charitable gift
- Making an unrestricted gift to the CDC Foundation
- To honor or recognize a friend or loved one
- Making a restricted to an existing CDC Foundation Named or Endowed Fund
- To establish a Named or Endowed Fund*
*Please contact us for additional details
Tip
It is important to let us know of your gift because many retirement plan administrators assume no obligation to notify a charity of your designation. The administrator also will not monitor whether your gift designations are followed. We would love to talk to you about your intentions to ensure that they are followed. Thank you for your generosity.
At Any Age
No matter your age, you can designate the CDC Foundation as the beneficiary of all or a percentage of your IRA and it will pass to us tax-free after your lifetime. The process is simple and just requires you to contact your IRA administrator for a change-of-beneficiary form or download a form from your provider’s website.
Request My Qualified Charitable Distribution Forms
Request a QCD Tax Acknowledgement Letter
I have already made a Qualified Charitable Distribution gift to the CDC Foundation, and I need a tax acknowledgement letter.
If you have additional questions, please contact:
Helene Erenberg
Associate Vice President for Advancement
600 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 1000
Atlanta, GA 30308
Phone: 404.443.1139
Fax: 404.653.0330
Email