Who can give this way
The IRS calls this a qualified charitable distribution, or QCD. Four rules decide whether a gift is one.
- You are at least 70½ on the day the money leaves the IRA.
- The money goes straight from the IRA to the charity. If it is paid to you first, it is an ordinary withdrawal.
- It comes from a traditional IRA. Not from an active SEP or SIMPLE IRA, and not from a 401(k) unless you first move the money into an IRA.
- The charity is a qualifying public charity. Donor-advised funds and supporting organizations are left out by law. NYC Honor qualifies: it is a 501(c)(3) public charity, and its IRS classification, 509(a)(2), is not an excluded category.
Sources: the tax code, IRC section 408(d)(8); IRS, Seniors can reduce their tax burden by donating to charity through their IRA; IRS Publication 590-B.
How much you can give
Up to $111,000 per person for 2026. A married couple can each give up to that amount from their own IRAs. Anything above the limit counts as income, like any other withdrawal. The IRS raises the limit each year with inflation and has not yet published the 2027 figure; the 2027 QCD limit page will carry it the day it does.
Source: IRS Notice 2025-67, which raised the limit "from $108,000 to $111,000."
Your required minimum distribution, and why the gift helps
Once you reach your required minimum distribution age, the IRS makes you take a set amount out of your traditional IRA every year, and that money is taxed as income. Under the SECURE 2.0 Act, the age is 73 if you were born from 1951 through 1958, and 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. For people born in 1959 the law's wording is unclear, so ask your tax preparer. Your first one can wait until April 1 of the next year; every one after that is due by December 31.
A gift from your IRA to a charity counts toward that required amount, and it is left out of your income. So money you had to take out anyway can go to a charity with no federal income tax on it.
Sources: IRS, Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs; the tax code, IRC section 401(a)(9)(C)(v); IRS Publication 590-B ("A QCD will count towards your required minimum distribution").
Giving your RMD to charity in 2026
Yes, you can give your 2026 required minimum distribution to charity: up to $111,000 sent straight from your IRA to a charity counts toward it and stays out of your income. If your RMD is larger than what you give, the rest comes out and is taxed the usual way.
- The deadline is December 31, 2026. The money has to leave your IRA by then to count for 2026. Custodians need time to cut and mail a check, so ask yours for its year-end cutoff and start early. The one exception is your first RMD, which can wait until April 1 of the following year.
- Ask for a qualified charitable distribution by name. Use the words in Send it to NYC Honor below so the custodian pays the charity, not you.
- Do not also deduct it. The gift is left out of your income instead, so it is not a charitable deduction.
- Keep the charity's letter. You need the same written acknowledgment as for any gift. We send one for every IRA gift we can match to a name.
- At tax time, your Form 1099-R shows the full distribution and your return shows how much was a QCD. How to report a QCD on your tax return.
Inherited an IRA? A beneficiary who is 70½ or older can give from it the same way. QCDs from an inherited IRA.
Sources: IRS Notice 2025-67 ($111,000 for 2026); IRS Publication 590-B (counts toward your RMD; no deduction for a QCD; acknowledgment required); IRS, RMD FAQs (December 31 and April 1 deadlines); Fidelity, Qualified charitable distributions ("The deadline to make a QCD is December 31 of the tax year for which you want it to count").