A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) allows individuals aged 70.5 or older to transfer up to $108,000 annually (2025) directly from their IRA to qualified charities without including the distribution in taxable income.1
Key Advantage: The distribution goes directly from your IRA custodian to the charity. It never touches your hands or your tax return as income. This makes it more taxefficient than taking a distribution and then taking a charitable contribution.
Perfect for Required Minimum Distributions: If you're age 73+ and subject to Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), a QCD counts toward satisfying your RMD requirement while keeping that income off your tax return.2
1 https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkudla/2025/09/30/year-end-planning-with-qualified-charitable-distributions/
2 IRS, "Retirement topics - Required minimum distributions (RMDs)" https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topicsrequired-minimum-distributions-rmds