How to report a QCD on your tax return
Form 1099-R, code Y, and line 4c (2026)

The short answer

Put the whole IRA distribution on Form 1040 line 4a. Put only the part that did not go to charity on line 4b, or zero if all of it did. Then check box 2, "QCD", on line 4c. That is how the IRS knows the gift is left out of your income.

Your Form 1099-R will not do this for you. It reports the whole distribution. The IRS added a code, Y, to its Form 1099-R instructions for 2025 so custodians can flag a QCD, but for tax year 2026 it says using that code is optional. A form without it does not mean anything went wrong.

Step by step

1. Find your Form 1099-R. Your IRA custodian sends it early in the year after the gift. Box 1 shows the total that left the IRA.
2. Line 4a: the total. Enter the full IRA distribution, including the part that went to charity.
3. Line 4b: the taxable part. Enter only what was not a QCD. If the whole distribution went to charity, enter 0.
4. Line 4c: check box 2, "QCD".
5. Do not list it again as a charitable deduction. A QCD is left out of income instead of deducted, so it does not go on Schedule A.
6. Keep the charity's letter with your records. A QCD needs the same written acknowledgment as any other gift.

Example. You take $20,000 out of your IRA in 2026 and $15,000 of it goes straight to a charity as a QCD. Line 4a: $20,000. Line 4b: $5,000. Line 4c: box 2 checked.

Sources: IRS 2025 Form 1040 instructions, lines 4a and 4b, Exception 3 ("enter the total distribution on line 4a ... Check box 2 on line 4c"); IRS Publication 590-B ("You can't claim a charitable contribution deduction for any QCD not included in your income").

Form 1099-R and code Y

Box 7 of Form 1099-R holds a distribution code. The IRS added code Y for a "qualified charitable distribution (QCD) claimed by taxpayer under section 408(d)(8)." When a custodian uses it, it pairs it with a second code:

• Y and 7 for a QCD from your own IRA.
• Y and 4 for a QCD from an inherited IRA. QCDs from an inherited IRA.
• Y and K for IRA assets without a ready market value.

For tax year 2026 the IRS says custodians "may choose, but are not required" to use code Y. So your 2026 Form 1099-R may show only code 7, and box 2a may still show the full amount as taxable. That is normal. The QCD is claimed on your return, as above.

Sources: IRS 2026 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498, "Code Y for box 7a on Form 1099-R" and "Qualified charitable distributions (QCDs)"; IRS 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 ("New code Y for box 7"); IRS Publication 590-B (lists code Y).

Which year's form?

• Gifts made in 2025 go on the 2025 Form 1040 you file in 2026. That form has the line 4c "QCD" box.
• Gifts made in 2026 go on the 2026 Form 1040 you file in 2027. The IRS's draft of that form, posted in 2026, keeps the same line 4c "QCD" box. Drafts can change before the final form; we will update this page if it does.

Sources: IRS 2025 Form 1040; IRS draft 2026 Form 1040 (marked "DRAFT, do not file").

Two less common cases

• The one-time gift to a split-interest entity (a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder trust funded by a QCD, up to $55,000 for 2026): check box 3 on line 4c, write "SIE", and attach the statement Publication 590-B describes.
• An IRA that holds after-tax money: the QCD is treated as coming out of the taxable part first. Publication 590-B walks through it; your tax preparer may need Form 8606.

Sources: IRS Publication 590-B; IRS Notice 2025-67 ($55,000 split-interest figure for 2026).

This is education, not advice

NYC Honor Foundation is a charity, not a tax or investment advisory firm. Talk to your own tax professional before you move money. Checked against the sources named on this page on October 14, 2026.