RMDs, the December 31 Deadline, and the QCD That Beats a Deduction in 2026
The 2026 QCD limit is $111,000. Here's how a qualified charitable distribution satisfies your RMD without ever touching your taxable income — and why it can beat a deduction.
For 2026 the qualified charitable distribution limit is $111,000 per person, up from $108,000 in 2025, per IRS Notice 2025-67. A QCD lets IRA owners age 70½ or older send money directly to charity, counting toward their RMD while staying out of taxable income.
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About the Author
Sujit KarkiFinance Researcher & Market Analyst
Independent finance researcher and market analyst with expertise in macroeconomics, equity markets, and personal finance. I help regular investors make better-informed decisions through rigorous, data-driven analysis.
The 2026 QCD limit is $111,000 per person, up from $108,000 in 2025 (IRS Notice 2025-67).
QCDs are available at 70½; RMDs start later, at 73 or 75 depending on birth year.
A QCD counts toward your RMD but is excluded from AGI entirely — better than a deduction for many retirees.
Missing the December 31 RMD deadline triggers a 25% excise tax (10% if corrected within two years).
If you're taking required minimum distributions and giving to charity anyway, there's a decent chance you're doing it in the more expensive order. Most people take the RMD as taxable income, then write a check to charity and try to deduct it. A qualified charitable distribution skips that whole detour — the money goes straight from your IRA to the charity and never shows up in your income in the first place. Here's why that ordering matters more than it sounds like it should.
The RMD basics and the deadline
Required minimum distributions kick in at age 73 for people born 1951-1959, or age 75 for people born 1960 or later, under SECURE 2.0's phased-in schedule. The deadline for taking your RMD each year is December 31 — except for your very first RMD, which you can delay until April 1 of the following year (though doing so means taking two RMDs in one calendar year, which can push you into a higher bracket).
Miss the deadline and the penalty is real: a 25% excise tax on the amount you should have withdrawn but didn't, reduced to 10% if you correct it within two years. That's steep enough that "I'll get to it in December" is a genuinely risky plan if your custodian's systems get backed up during the year-end rush.
Why the QCD beats a deduction now
A qualified charitable distribution lets IRA owners age 70½ or older send money directly from their IRA to a qualifying charity — up to $111,000 per person in 2026 — and that amount counts toward satisfying your RMD for the year. The critical difference from writing a check yourself: the QCD amount is excluded from your AGI entirely. It never appears as income you then try to deduct back out.
That distinction matters more than it looks like on paper. If you take the RMD as income and then deduct an equivalent charitable gift, you need to itemize to get any benefit at all — and even then, the new 0.5%-of-AGI floor on itemized giving I wrote about in a separate piece on the 2026 charitable deduction changes shaves a little off the deduction. A QCD sidesteps all of that. You get the full benefit whether or not you itemize, because the income never counted in the first place.
Pro Tip
Married couples can each use their own $111,000 QCD limit from their own IRAs — up to $222,000 combined in 2026 — which matters for larger charitable commitments in a single year.
The AGI-exclusion ripple effect
Because a QCD keeps money out of AGI rather than adding it and deducting it back out, it helps with things a deduction can't touch. A lower AGI can mean lower Medicare IRMAA surcharges the following year — I've written separately about how income affects your Medicare premium through IRMAA — less of your Social Security benefit subject to tax, and a lower exposure to the net investment income tax. A deduction reduces your taxable income; a QCD keeps the income from ever counting toward any of these AGI-based thresholds in the first place. For a retiree sitting right at one of those cliffs, that difference can be worth more than the deduction's face value.
The rules people get wrong
A few mechanics trip people up every year. The distribution must go directly from the IRA custodian to the charity — if the money touches your hands first, even briefly, it's disqualified as a QCD and becomes an ordinary taxable distribution. Donor-advised funds and most private foundations don't qualify as QCD recipients; it has to be a direct-giving qualifying charity. And for inherited IRAs, the beneficiary can use a QCD only if they themselves are 70½ or older — the original owner's age doesn't transfer.
Warning
Ask your custodian for their specific QCD process well before December. Some require a separate form or a distinct checkbook tied to the IRA, and a QCD requested too close to year-end can miss the December 31 deadline through no fault of your own.
Estimate your QCD tax savings
How I calculated this: the calculator compares two paths to the same charitable gift — a QCD, which is excluded from AGI entirely and capped at $111,000/person for 2026 (IRS Notice 2025-67), versus taking the RMD as income and separately claiming an itemized deduction for the same donation. The tax-savings gap it shows comes from the QCD path never touching AGI, so it doesn't get reduced by the 0.5%-of-AGI charitable-deduction floor, doesn't push you into a higher IRMAA bracket, and doesn't require itemizing at all to get the benefit.
Interactive · estimate your QCD tax savings
How much does a QCD save you versus taking your RMD as income?
IRA balance (Dec 31 prior year)$500,000
Your age this year75
QCD amount to charity$30,000
Marginal federal tax bracket22%
Your RMD is $20,325. A $30,000 QCD saves about $6,600 versus taking it as taxable income.
This year's RMD
$0
Federal tax saved via QCD
$0
Estimate only, not tax advice; QCD must go directly from your IRA custodian to a qualifying charity. Divisor: 24.6 (IRS Uniform Lifetime Table).
QCD and RMD estimate — data table
IRA balance
$500,000
Uniform Lifetime divisor (age 75)
24.6
This year's RMD
$20,325
QCD applied (2026 limit $111,000)
$30,000
RMD still to take as income
$0
Federal tax saved via QCD
$6,600
Here's What I'd Actually Do
If you're 70½+ and charitably inclined, default to QCDs over writing checks from taxable accounts once RMDs are in play — the AGI exclusion is close to strictly better.
Start your QCD paperwork in October or November, not December — custodian processing times vary and the December 31 deadline is firm.
Coordinate with your itemizing status. If you don't itemize, a QCD is even more clearly the better move than a deduction you can't actually use.
Watch your combined RMD + other income against IRMAA and Social Security taxation thresholds — the QCD's real value often shows up there, not just on the tax return line.
Confirm your specific charity qualifies and that the distribution goes directly from custodian to charity — don't let the check route through you first.
This isn't tax advice for your specific return — a CPA or fee-only advisor can model your exact numbers against your other income sources.
Frequently Asked Questions
For 2026 the qualified charitable distribution limit is $111,000 per person, up from $108,000 in 2025, per IRS Notice 2025-67. A QCD lets IRA owners age 70½ or older send money directly to charity, counting toward their RMD while staying out of taxable income.
This is educational content, not financial or tax advice. RMD ages, QCD limits, and IRMAA thresholds change. Talk to a licensed tax or financial professional about your specific situation. See the full disclaimer.
Sujit Karki|||5 min read