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Qualified Charitable Distribution

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Qualified Charitable Distribution

The QCD conditions, including age, accounts, recipients and the yearly limit.
Published by Security Financial Management · November 2026 · Figures last checked against the sources listed below on November 5, 2026. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC (Kestra IS). Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS). Security Financial Management, Bluespring Wealth Partners, LLC, Kestra IS and Kestra AS are affiliated through common ownership by Kestra Holdings.

A qualified charitable distribution (QCD) is a gift sent from an IRA straight to a charity. The IRS allows it once the IRA owner is age 70½ or older, and for 2026 up to $111,000 per person can be left out of gross income, according to IRS Notice 2025-67.[1,2] This page lays out the rules: who can give, from which accounts, how much, and what a donor-advised fund is and why gifts to one are treated differently. It does not cover inherited IRAs, and it does not tell any household what to do with its money. For why charitable giving does not wait for a large estate, see the firm’s Insight on qualified charitable distributions.

What You’ll Learn

  • What a QCD is and the conditions it must meet, in sequence
  • The QCD rules: age, accounts, recipients and the 2026 limit
  • What a donor-advised fund is
  • The rules for a donor-advised fund, and why a QCD cannot fund one
  • How a donor-advised fund gift and a QCD are treated differently for tax

In short. Four common tools carry charitable giving: cash, appreciated securities, a donor-advised fund, and an IRA gift paid directly to charity. Each follows different rules. A direct IRA gift to a donor-advised fund does not count as a QCD. When the order of the gifts is never set, qualified charitable distributions may go unused.

What Is a QCD? The Definition of a Qualified Charitable Distribution

A qualified charitable distribution, or QCD, is a gift paid from an IRA directly to a charity. The IRA’s trustee (which holds the account) makes the payment, and the owner must be at least age 70½ when it is made. The IRS generally treats the amount, up to a yearly limit, as left out of the owner’s gross income.[2]

The conditions in IRS Publication 590-B, set out as a sequence (the IRS lists them as conditions, not steps):[2]

  1. The owner confirms an eligible IRA and an age of at least 70½.
  2. The owner directs the IRA trustee to pay an eligible charity.
  3. The trustee makes the payment directly to the charity.
  4. The owner obtains the same type of acknowledgment that a charitable deduction would require.

Rule to note: not every gift from an IRA is a QCD. The conditions include an eligible IRA, a direct payment by the IRA trustee to an eligible charity, and an owner at least age 70½.[2]

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QCD Rules: Age, Accounts, Recipients and the 2026 Limit

A QCD must meet each of these conditions:

  • Age: at least 70½ when the distribution is made.[2]
  • Accounts: an IRA, not an ongoing SEP or SIMPLE IRA or a 401(k) or 403(b).[2,7]
  • Recipients: an eligible charity, meaning an organization described in section 170(b)(1)(A) of the tax code (not every organization that can receive deductible gifts qualifies), not a supporting organization (a separate category of charity) or a donor-advised fund.[2,4]
  • Paperwork: acknowledgment of the gift, the same type a deduction would require.[2]
  • Limit: for 2026, up to $111,000 per person, up from $108,000 in 2025. Each spouse on a joint return has a separate QCD limit.[1,2]
  • Amount: a QCD cannot exceed the part of the distribution otherwise included in income. IRA contributions deducted at 70½ or older can reduce how much can be excluded.[2]
  • Timing: a QCD counts for the tax year in which it is made.[7]

Rule to note: an ongoing SEP or SIMPLE IRA does not qualify.[2]

What Is a Donor Advised Fund?

A donor-advised fund is generally a fund or account in which a donor can, because of being a donor, advise the fund how to distribute or invest the amounts held in it, according to IRS Publication 526.[5] The sponsoring organization is the qualified organization that sponsors the fund.[5]

  • The fund is separately identified by reference to the contributions of a donor or donors.[4]
  • It is owned and controlled by the sponsoring organization, under the tax code.[4]
  • The donor, or a person the donor appoints, has, or reasonably expects to have, advisory privileges over distribution or investment.[4]
  • Exception: a fund that makes distributions only to a single identified organization or governmental entity is not a donor-advised fund.[4]

Rule to note: advisory privileges are not ownership. The donor advises, and the tax code puts ownership and control with the sponsoring organization.[4]

Donor Advised Fund Rules, and Why a QCD Cannot Fund One

A QCD must go to an eligible charity, and the tax code excludes donor-advised funds and supporting organizations as recipients of a QCD.[4] Separate conditions apply to deducting a gift to a donor-advised fund:

  • Deduction condition: the sponsoring organization cannot be a war veterans’ organization, a fraternal society or a nonprofit cemetery company, and cannot be a type III supporting organization that is not functionally integrated (a type of supporting organization the tax code names).[5]
  • Deduction condition: the donor must obtain a contemporaneous (timely) written acknowledgment from the sponsoring organization that it has exclusive legal control over the assets contributed.[5]

Rule to note: a QCD cannot go to a donor-advised fund. A distribution to a donor-advised fund is not a qualified charitable distribution under the tax code.[4]

Donor Advised Fund Tax Deduction Compared With a QCD

A QCD earns no charitable deduction. A gift to a donor-advised fund can be deducted only by itemizing and does not qualify for the 2026 non-itemizer deduction, according to IRS Tax Topic 506 and IRS Publication 6196.

Gift or rule Deduction Source
QCD from an IRA None. The amount is left out of income. [2]
Gift to a donor-advised fund Only by itemizing, with an eligible sponsor and its written acknowledgment. Not eligible for the 2026 non-itemizer deduction. [3,5,6]
Charitable gift, itemizing Allowed for itemizers, and it may be limited. [3]
2026 non-itemizer deduction Up to $1,000 ($2,000 joint) of cash gifts to certain qualified organizations. Not for donor-advised funds. [3,6]

Rule to note: the 2026 non-itemizer deduction does not apply to a gift to a donor-advised fund. The tax code leaves it out.[6]

Cash, appreciated stock, a donor-advised fund and an IRA gift each follow different rules, which is why a plan can weigh them together rather than one at a time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a qualified charitable distribution?

A qualified charitable distribution is a gift paid from an IRA straight to a charity by the IRA’s trustee, for an owner who is at least age 70½. The IRS generally treats the amount, up to a yearly limit, as left out of gross income.[2]

What are the rules for qualified charitable distributions?

The rules for a qualified charitable distribution are that the owner is at least age 70½, the account is an IRA other than an ongoing SEP or SIMPLE IRA, the trustee pays an eligible charity directly, and the owner has the acknowledgment of the gift that a deduction would require.[2] For 2026, up to $111,000 per person can be left out of gross income.[1]

At what age can you make a QCD?

A QCD can be made once the owner is age 70½.[2] Required minimum distributions are the minimum amounts the IRS generally requires traditional IRA owners to withdraw each year. Under the IRS’s 2024 final regulations, the age at which required withdrawals start is 73 for people born 1951 through 1958 and 75 for people born in 1960 or later, and the tax code applies similar rules to IRAs. IRS proposed regulations would set it at 73 for people born in 1959.[8] For an owner who has a required minimum distribution, a QCD will count toward it.[2]

What are common QCD mistakes to avoid?

The IRS conditions for a QCD include that the owner is at least age 70½ when the distribution is made, that the account is an eligible IRA (not an ongoing SEP or SIMPLE IRA), that the trustee pays an eligible charity directly, and that the owner has the same type of acknowledgment needed to deduct a charitable contribution. No source used for this page says which QCD errors are most common.[2] A donor-advised fund and a supporting organization do not qualify as recipients.[4] The IRS does not allow a charitable deduction for the same amount.[2]

How does a QCD from an IRA work?

The owner directs the IRA’s trustee to pay an eligible charity, and the trustee pays it directly.[2] In the IRS’s 2025 example, Amy (age 75, with nondeductible contributions, meaning money she put into the IRA without deducting it) reports the full $25,000 on line 4a of Form 1040-SR, completes Form 8606 to work out line 4b, enters -0- there, and checks box 2 for QCD on line 4c.[2] Another owner’s line 4b may not be zero, and the 2026 form may differ.

Next Step

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Related Pages

Sources

  1. IRS Notice 2025-67, 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs: “The aggregate amount of qualified charitable distributions that are not includible in gross income under section 408(d)(8)(A) is increased from $108,000 to $111,000,” and the one-time election amount for a split-interest entity “is increased from $54,000 to $55,000.” irs.gov Accessed November 5, 2026.
  2. IRS Publication 590-B (2025): a QCD is “generally a nontaxable distribution made directly by the trustee of your IRA (other than an ongoing SEP or SIMPLE IRA) to an organization eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions. You must be at least age 70½ when the distribution is made”; you must have “the same type of acknowledgment of your contribution that you would need to claim a deduction”; “If you file a joint return, your spouse can also have a QCD”; “The amount of the QCD is limited to the amount of the distribution that would otherwise be included in income”; “A QCD will count towards your required minimum distribution”; “You can’t claim a charitable contribution deduction for any QCD not included in your income”; the offset for IRA contributions deducted at age 70½ or older; the 2025 reporting example (lines 4a, 4b, 4c). irs.gov Accessed November 5, 2026.
  3. IRS Tax Topic 506: “Currently, you can only deduct charitable contributions if you itemize deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040), Itemized Deductions (this may be limited),” and “Beginning with tax year 2026, if you do not itemize, you may deduct up to $1,000 ($2,000 if filing jointly) of your cash contributions to certain qualified organizations.” irs.gov Accessed November 5, 2026.
  4. 26 U.S.C. § 4966(d)(2), “donor advised fund” means a fund or account “(i) which is separately identified by reference to contributions of a donor or donors, (ii) which is owned and controlled by a sponsoring organization, and (iii) with respect to which a donor (or any person appointed or designated by such donor) has, or reasonably expects to have, advisory privileges with respect to the distribution or investment of amounts held in such fund or account by reason of the donor’s status as a donor”; the term does not include a fund “which makes distributions only to a single identified organization or governmental entity.” 26 U.S.C. § 408(d)(8)(B): a qualified charitable distribution is a distribution to an organization described in section 170(b)(1)(A) “(other than any organization described in section 509(a)(3) or any fund or account described in section 4966(d)(2)).” law.cornell.edu and law.cornell.edu Accessed November 5, 2026.
  5. IRS Publication 526 (2025): “Generally, a donor-advised fund is a fund or account in which a donor can, because of being a donor, advise the fund how to distribute or invest amounts held in the fund”; you can’t deduct a contribution to a donor-advised fund if the sponsor “is a war veterans’ organization, a fraternal society, or a nonprofit cemetery company” or you lack “a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from that sponsoring organization that it has exclusive legal control over the assets contributed.” 26 U.S.C. § 170(f)(18) states the same conditions and also excludes a type III supporting organization that is not functionally integrated. irs.gov and law.cornell.edu Accessed November 5, 2026.
  6. 26 U.S.C. § 170(p): the non-itemizer deduction applies to cash contributions “to an organization described in section 170(b)(1)(A) and not … (2) for the establishment of a new, or maintenance of an existing, donor advised fund (as defined in section 4966(d)(2)).” IRS Publication 6196, Charitable Contribution Deduction Tips for Non-Itemizers: “Donations made to donor-advised funds generally do not qualify for this deduction.” law.cornell.edu and irs.gov Accessed November 5, 2026.
  7. 26 U.S.C. § 408(d)(8): “So much of the aggregate amount of qualified charitable distributions with respect to a taxpayer made during any taxable year … shall not be includible in gross income of such taxpayer for such taxable year,” and a qualified charitable distribution “means any distribution from an individual retirement plan (other than a plan described in subsection (k) or (p)).” Vanguard: “Employer-sponsored retirement plans, such as 401(k), 403(b), and similar workplace plans, are not eligible for QCDs.” law.cornell.edu and investor.vanguard.com Accessed November 5, 2026.
  8. IRS Retirement topics, Required minimum distributions (RMDs): “You generally have to start taking withdrawals from your IRA, SIMPLE IRA, SEP IRA, or retirement plan account when you reach age 73.” IRS RMD FAQs: RMDs are “minimum amounts that IRA and retirement plan account owners generally must withdraw annually.” The 2024 final regulations (Internal Revenue Bulletin 2024-33) state the applicable age as 73 for employees “born on or after January 1, 1951, but before January 1, 1959” and 75 for employees “born on or after January 1, 1960.” 26 U.S.C. § 401(a)(9)(C)(v) is the statute behind them. 26 U.S.C. § 408(a)(6) applies “rules similar to the rules of section 401(a)(9)” to the distribution of an IRA. IRS proposed regulations REG-103529-23 (2024): “Under the proposed regulations, the applicable age for an employee who was born in 1959 would be age 73.” irs.gov, irs.gov, law.cornell.edu and federalregister.gov Accessed November 5, 2026.

Disclosures

The information presented is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or investment advice. The deductions, limits, thresholds and deadlines referenced are set by the Internal Revenue Code and IRS guidance for the tax years named, several of them adjust each year, and all are subject to legislative and regulatory change. Decisions about selling securities, converting retirement accounts, giving to charity and the timing of income should be reviewed with a qualified tax professional familiar with your specific situation. Nothing here is a recommendation to sell, convert, give, withdraw or defer any asset or income. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC (Kestra IS). Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS). Security Financial Management, Bluespring Wealth Partners, LLC, Kestra IS and Kestra AS are affiliated through common ownership by Kestra Holdings. Verify advisor credentials at BrokerCheck by FINRA or SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure.