How are IRA contributions to charity handled for people under age 70?

How does charitable giving from an IRA for people under 70 get handled at tax time?



A charitable contribution from the IRA of a person who has not yet reached the age of 70 1/2 cannot be treated as a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). The distribution is included in taxable income, whether or not the money was sent directly to the charity, as would be the case for any other distribution. The donor must claim the charitable contribution as a deduction on their federal tax return using Schedule A for Itemized Deductions in order to get a tax benefit. If the taxpayer doesn’t have itemized deductions which are high enough to exceed the standard deduction for that return, then they receive no tax benefit for the donation.

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