QCD or Cash Gift?
Does giving from an IRA beat writing a check, and by how much? Every piece below can be linked to, so it opens in a window on your reader's screen, current as of the record. No form to fill in.
2026 law · Reviewed September 5, 2026 · The full page, with methodology and sources · the terms · All tools
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The gift, the household's other income, its Social Security, and filing status in; the federal tax and Medicare premiums each way, and the saving, out. In a frame it carries no cookies, no tracking, and a visible link back to the methodology. Your site has to allow frames; most do. The link that opens it in a small window is on the professionals page.
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- In plain words.
- After age 70½ you can send money from an IRA directly to a charity, and it never counts as your income. Writing a check instead means taking the money out of the IRA first, which does count as income, and most retirees cannot deduct the gift because they take the standard deduction. This tool runs your whole tax return both ways and shows the difference, including the effect on how much of your Social Security is taxed and on Medicare premiums.
- Why it matters.
- The same gift to the same charity can cost you thousands more one way than the other. If you give at all and have an IRA, this is worth checking once.
- An example.
- A single person with $100,000 of income giving $10,000: from an IRA withdrawal and a check, the gift costs about $2,300 in extra tax. Sent from the IRA directly, it costs nothing extra.
- Where it stops.
- It assumes you take the standard deduction; if you itemize and deduct the check, the gap narrows. The gift must go to a public charity, not a donor-advised fund or private foundation, and you must be 70½.
The facts
Six quotable sentences on giving from an IRA, 2026 figures.
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- A qualified charitable distribution is a transfer from an IRA directly to a public charity by someone 70½ or older. It is excluded from income entirely; for 2026 the limit is $111,000 per person, indexed, with a one-time $55,000 election for a charitable gift annuity or remainder trust.
- A cash gift of the same size, paid from a taxable IRA withdrawal, adds the withdrawal to adjusted gross income and is deductible only by itemizing; most retirees take the standard deduction ($32,200 joint for 2026), so the gift is not deducted at all.
- Adjusted gross income does more than set the bracket. It sets how much of Social Security is taxable (thresholds of $32,000 and $44,000 joint), the senior deduction's phase-out (from $150,000 joint), and the Medicare tier two years out (first surcharge above $218,000 joint). A QCD lowers all of them at once.
- Example: a couple with $80,000 of other income and $36,000 of benefits gives $10,000. From an IRA withdrawal, federal tax is $7,076; as a QCD, $5,876: $1,200 saved, $0 of benefits kept out of income.
- A QCD counts toward the year's required minimum distribution, so a required withdrawal that would otherwise be taxed can go to charity untaxed instead.
- Deductible IRA contributions made after 70½ reduce the excludable amount of later QCDs dollar for dollar (§ 408(d)(8)(A)); a donor-advised fund and a private foundation are not eligible recipients.
Where the income shows up
The four places adjusted gross income is tested, and the answer for each route.
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| Test | Cash gift from an IRA withdrawal | Qualified charitable distribution |
|---|---|---|
| Adjusted gross income | Withdrawal included | Excluded |
| Charitable deduction | Only by itemizing | None needed |
| Taxable share of Social Security | Rises with the withdrawal | Unchanged |
| Senior deduction ($6,000 per person 65+) | Phases out sooner | Unchanged |
| Medicare premium tier, two years later | Can cross a tier | Unchanged |
| Counts toward the required minimum distribution | Yes | Yes |
| Limit for 2026 | None | $111,000 per person |
Cite and link.
The clean address, a citation generated from the record so it can never carry a stale review date, and an address for every section so you can point a reader at the exact table or method.
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- Link
- https://consideratecapital.com/tools/qcd-or-cash-gift
- Citation
- Considerate Capital, "QCD or Cash Gift?," reviewed September 5, 2026, https://consideratecapital.com/tools/qcd-or-cash-gift.
Link to a section
- The calculator https://consideratecapital.com/tools/qcd-or-cash-gift#calculator
- The facts https://consideratecapital.com/tools/qcd-or-cash-gift#facts
- Where the income shows up https://consideratecapital.com/tools/qcd-or-cash-gift#key-numbers
- How the two routes differ https://consideratecapital.com/tools/qcd-or-cash-gift#how-it-works
- Methodology https://consideratecapital.com/tools/qcd-or-cash-gift#methodology
- Sources https://consideratecapital.com/tools/qcd-or-cash-gift#sources
- Revision history https://consideratecapital.com/tools/qcd-or-cash-gift#revision-history
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