This QCD calculator compares two ways to give the same money: a qualified charitable distribution sent from your traditional IRA straight to a charity, or a normal withdrawal you deposit and then donate by check. Enter your age, your balance or required amount, the donation, your filing status, other earnings, how you deduct, and your bracket. You get the tax savings, the drop in AGI, and how much of the year’s RMD is still due.
The defaults describe a single filer who turns 74 this year with $510,000 in the IRA on December 31. Her RMD is $20,000 (the balance divided by 25.5, the factor for age 74). She plans to donate $10,000 and has $70,000 of pension and interest. Writing a check leaves $65,750 of taxable income. Sending the money from the IRA lowers that to $56,150, a $9,600 gap worth $2,112 at a 22% marginal rate, with half the RMD still to take.
QCD Calculator
Compare giving to charity straight from your IRA with taking the withdrawal and writing a check: federal tax saved, how much lower your AGI lands, and how much of this year's required withdrawal is still left to take.
Uses 2026 federal figures: the $111,000 yearly cap (Notice 2025-67), the standard deduction and age 65 add-on (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), the $6,000 senior deduction for 2025 to 2028, the $1,000 / $2,000 non-itemizer charity deduction and 0.5% of AGI floor for itemizers, and the Uniform Lifetime Table in Publication 590-B. Tax saved uses the bracket you enter, not a full return. State tax, Social Security taxation, and IRA basis are not modeled. Educational only, not tax, legal, or financial advice.
Check or Direct Transfer: Where the $9,600 Comes From
| Line | Withdraw, then write a check | Give straight from the IRA |
|---|---|---|
| Adjusted gross (line 11) | $90,000 | $80,000 |
| Standard amount plus the age 65 add-on | $18,150 | $18,150 |
| Write-off for gifts by non-itemizers | $1,000 | $0 |
| Senior add-on after the phase-out | $5,100 | $5,700 |
| Amount taxed | $65,750 | $56,150 |
Three lines move, not one. The donated dollars never reach adjusted gross. The check route wins back the new non-itemizer write-off (double on a joint return), which only covers cash paid to an operating charity. And her $6,000 senior break shrinks by 6 cents per dollar of adjusted gross over $75,000, so the lower figure keeps $600 more of it.
The tool multiplies that gap by the bracket you enter rather than running the whole schedule. That’s exact when both totals sit in one bracket, as here: 22% covers $50,400 to $105,700 for single filers.
Who Can Give This Way: 70 1/2, Not the RMD Age
The age test is 70 1/2 on the day the money leaves the account. RMDs start later: age 73 for people born 1951 through 1959, and 75 for anyone born in 1960 or later under SECURE 2.0. So an IRA owner of 71 can give this way with no RMD to satisfy. Enter 70, 71, or 72 above and the savings still show.
Accounts that work: traditional and rollover IRAs, plus inherited IRAs when the beneficiary is 70 1/2 or older. Ongoing SEP plans and SIMPLE IRAs don’t qualify while an employer still pays in, and 401(k) or 403(b) money must be rolled into an IRA first. If you manage an inherited account, figure the beneficiary’s required amount before you give.
The $111,000 Cap and the One-Time Gift Annuity Election
The ceiling was a flat $100,000 from 2006 until SECURE 2.0 tied it to inflation:
| Year | Yearly amount per person | One-time split-interest election |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $105,000 | $53,000 |
| 2025 | $108,000 | $54,000 |
| 2026 | $111,000 | $55,000 |
| 2027 | Notice due the prior fall | Same notice |
Each spouse has a separate limit, so a couple with an IRA each can move double, but one can’t borrow the other’s room. Anything over it is taxed like a normal distribution, and the tool breaks that part out.
The election lets you send part of the yearly amount, once in your life, to a charitable gift annuity or to a remainder annuity trust or unitrust funded only by these transfers. The annuity must make fixed payments of at least 5% starting within a year. Charities with planned-giving offices often host a gift calculator for that annuity side. You report the election as “SIE” on the return with a signed statement.
How the Donation Satisfies the Required Withdrawal
Every dollar sent directly counts toward your RMD, though none of it shows up in adjusted gross. In the default case the donation covers half the requirement. Give more than the RMD and the whole amount stays out, up to the yearly amount, with nothing left to take.
Order matters. Planners call this the first dollar out rule: distributions earlier in the year count toward the requirement first, so if you took the full RMD in January, a December donation can’t make January’s money tax-free. Send the charity’s share first, then take the rest. Also, if the IRA holds after-tax basis, donated dollars come out of the taxable portion first, the reverse of the usual pro rata split.
People with big RMDs sometimes pair this with a qualifying longevity annuity, which lowers future required amounts instead of this year’s.
Standard Deduction or Itemizing: Who Gains the Most From a QCD
You can’t deduct a donation that was never counted as earnings. That’s the trade, so the edge depends on how you file.
- Standard filers. The standard deduction is $16,100 single or $32,200 joint, plus $2,050 (unmarried) or $1,650 (married) per person 65 or older. Until recently a check to charity earned these filers nothing. The new non-itemizer write-off trims the IRA route’s edge by that write-off and no more.
- Itemizers. They now lose the first 0.5% of adjusted gross in charitable gifts, and cash gifts face a 60% ceiling. The IRA route skips both.
Here’s a joint case we ran through the tool. Both spouses are over 65, with $150,000 of pensions and dividends, a $40,000 RMD, a $20,000 donation, $30,000 of other itemized costs, and a 22% bracket. Writing a check, they itemize $49,050 (the $950 floor comes off the gift), keep $7,200 of senior add-ons, and owe on $133,750. Giving from the IRA, the $35,500 standard amount beats their other itemized costs and the senior add-ons rise to $9,600, so they owe on $124,900.
That’s $8,850 less, worth $1,947: the $950 floor, $5,500 of standard amount they couldn’t otherwise use, and $2,400 of senior add-on kept. Itemizers gain too, just less than the full donation.
Lower Adjusted Gross: Medicare, Social Security, and Other Knock-On Effects
Keeping money out of adjusted gross income can matter more than the direct savings. Medicare’s IRMAA surcharges use modified adjusted gross from two years earlier, with the first Part B tier above $109,000 single or $218,000 joint, so a donation can keep you under a cliff; see the IRMAA brackets and surcharge estimate. It can also shrink the taxed share of benefits, since up to 85% can count; see how much of your Social Security is taxable. Neither effect is in the headline figure, so treat it as a floor. The senior add-on benefit ends after 2028; the IRMAA effect doesn’t.
Eligible Charities, Paperwork, and Filing
The money must go directly from your IRA to the charity. The custodian pays the organization, not you; a check made out to you is an ordinary withdrawal, even if you pass it along the same day. Ask your custodian’s service desk for its form.
- Who can receive it: most 501(c)(3) public charities. Donor-advised accounts and supporting organizations are excluded.
- Receipt: get the same written acknowledgment you would need to deduct the gift.
- Form 1099-R: the custodian reports a normal distribution. The newest instructions add code Y for these transfers, optional for its first year.
- Form 1040: total on line 4a, only the non-donated part on line 4b, and box 2 checked on line 4c. Older instructions said to write “QCD” beside line 4b, and an older guide may still say that.
One trap catches people who still work. A deductible IRA contribution for any year you were 70 1/2 or older shrinks the tax-free part of later QCDs until it’s used up. In the Publication 590-B example, Jim deducted $10,000, so his $6,000 donation was fully taxable and $4,000 carried over; the next year’s $6,500 donation excluded $2,500.
When Another Charitable Plan Beats the IRA Route
Appreciated stock or other property can be a better gift for an itemizer, since the gain is never taxed. A year with a big medical expense might tip you into itemizing anyway. For a legacy, naming charities as IRA beneficiaries passes pre-tax money to them free of income tax while heirs get other assets; when you plan your will or trust, a professional can fit your favorite causes into the estate as a whole. Personal finance choices like these support the math but don’t replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can you give from an IRA this way each year?
The yearly amount in the table, per person, including any split-interest election.
Does it reduce what you owe?
Yes. It lowers adjusted gross, which lowers the federal income tax, and it replaces a write-off you would otherwise get only by itemizing.
Can I send it to a donor-advised fund?
No. Those don’t qualify. Pick an operating charity.
Do QCDs work from a 401(k)?
Not directly. Roll the money to an IRA, then give.
Last reviewed September 2026 against IRS Publication 590-B, Notice 2025-67, Rev. Proc. 2025-32, Publication 505, and the Forms 1040 and 1099-R instructions. Figures refresh each fall. The tool estimates federal tax only, using the bracket you enter. Educational topic coverage, not tax or legal advice or a financial recommendation.