Do Qualified Charitable Distributions Count Toward Your RMD?

Yes. Qualified charitable distributions do count toward your RMD, dollar for dollar. If your required minimum distribution for the year is $30,000 and you send $30,000 straight from your IRA to a qualifying charity, the year’s obligation is met and none of that money lands on your tax return as income.¹

Why a QCD Beats a Regular RMD Withdrawal

A QCD does two things at the same time. The IRS treats the transfer as an IRA distribution, so it counts against whatever amount you’re required to withdraw. But because the money moves directly to the charity and never touches your hands, it stays out of your adjusted gross income.

That second piece is what makes a QCD more valuable than a normal withdrawal plus a check to charity. A standard IRA distribution is ordinary income. It can push you into a higher bracket, increase the taxable share of your Social Security benefits, and raise your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums through the income-related monthly adjustment amount. A QCD sidesteps all of that. You also don’t need to itemize to get the benefit, because the amount is excluded from income rather than claimed as a deduction.

If your QCD equals or exceeds your RMD, the requirement is fully satisfied through the charitable transfer. If your QCD is smaller, you still need to take additional distributions to make up the difference, and those additional dollars are taxable as usual. Missing the RMD deadline triggers a 25 percent excise tax on the shortfall, so a timely QCD also removes that risk.²

The First-Dollar Rule: Why Timing Matters

Here is the trap. The IRS applies a first-dollar rule to IRA distributions: whatever leaves your account first during the year is applied against that year’s RMD. Once a taxable dollar has been credited toward the RMD, you can’t retroactively convert it into a QCD.

Say your RMD is $35,000. You take a $20,000 personal withdrawal in March, then make a $30,000 QCD in September. The first $35,000 out the door satisfies the RMD, which means your $20,000 personal withdrawal plus $15,000 of the QCD covers the requirement. The remaining $15,000 of the QCD is still excluded from income, but the $20,000 personal withdrawal is fully taxable. You didn’t shelter it.

The practical rule: make your QCDs before taking any personal distribution for the year. If the entire RMD is covered by QCDs first, every dollar of the requirement comes out tax-free.

Age Rules and the Gap Under SECURE 2.0

You’re eligible to make a QCD once you reach age 70½.¹ That threshold hasn’t moved, even though the RMD starting age has. Under SECURE 2.0:

Born 1950 or earlier: RMDs began at 72.
Born 1951 through 1959: RMDs begin at 73.
Born 1960 or later: RMDs begin at 75.

That gap is worth using. Someone born in 1960 can start making QCDs at 70½ but doesn’t face RMDs until 75. Those pre-RMD QCD years shrink the IRA balance tax-free, which also shrinks the eventual RMDs.

Which Accounts and Which Charities Qualify

QCDs can come from traditional IRAs, rollover IRAs, and inherited IRAs. Inactive SEP and SIMPLE IRAs also qualify, as long as your employer didn’t contribute to the account during the same tax year. Active 401(k)s and 403(b)s don’t allow QCDs. You can roll those funds into a traditional IRA and then use them for QCDs, but note the timing wrinkle: the plan must distribute the current year’s RMD before it can process a rollover, so plan a year ahead.

On the receiving end, the charity has to be an organization described under Section 170(b)(1)(A) — public charities such as churches, schools, hospitals, and organizations that draw broad public support.³ Three common categories are excluded, even though they’re all charitable in nature:

Donor-advised funds.
Private foundations, including family foundations.
Supporting organizations described under Section 509(a)(3).

A QCD sent to any of these loses its exclusion and becomes a fully taxable distribution. Confirm eligibility with the charity before you initiate the transfer.

How Much You Can Send in 2026

For 2026, the exclusion cap is $111,000 per person.⁴ The original $100,000 limit now adjusts annually for inflation under SECURE 2.0. The cap is per taxpayer, so spouses with their own IRAs can move a combined $222,000.

You can send more than your RMD as a QCD, but the extra doesn’t carry forward against next year’s RMD. Anything above the $111,000 cap in a given year is treated as a regular taxable distribution.

Making the Transfer Correctly

The money has to move directly from your IRA custodian to the charity. If it lands in your bank account first, the distribution is taxable, even if you write the charity a check the same day.¹ Most custodians issue a check payable to the charity, either mailed to the charity or sent to you to forward. Some offer electronic transfer. Ask your custodian for its QCD paperwork and have the charity’s name, address, and EIN ready.

The transfer has to be completed by December 31 of the year you want it to count toward. No extensions. If a paper check is involved, the charity needs to receive it by that date, and custodians see a heavy backlog in late November and December. Start by early December to leave room.

Keep two records. The charity should send a written acknowledgment stating that no goods or services were provided in return; anything received back would disqualify the distribution.⁵ Also save the custodian’s confirmation showing the payee and date.

Reporting the QCD

Form 1040 doesn’t have a dedicated QCD line. On line 4a, enter the full IRA distribution amount. On line 4b, enter only the taxable portion — zero if the entire distribution was a QCD. Then check the box on line 4c indicating the distribution includes a QCD.⁶ Check the current year’s instructions, since the exact box can shift.

Your custodian will send a Form 1099-R for the distribution. Beginning with 2025 reporting, box 7 uses a new Code Y to flag QCDs, paired with Code 7 for a normal distribution or Code 4 for a distribution from an inherited IRA.⁷ Before Code Y, the 1099-R gave no signal that a distribution was charitable, which put the whole substantiation load on the taxpayer. Even now, hold onto the charity’s acknowledgment and the custodian’s confirmation. The IRS can still ask you to back up the exclusion.

One more caveat: not every state that taxes income conforms to the federal QCD rule. Your QCD could be excluded federally and still appear as taxable income on your state return. If you live in a state with an income tax, check its conformity treatment before you count on the full benefit.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 408 – Individual Retirement Accounts
2
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 170 – Charitable, Etc., Contributions and Gifts
4
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Notice 2025-67 – 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs
5
Internal Revenue Service. Substantiating Charitable Contributions
6
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Form 1040
7
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498