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A Win-Win: Help Yourself — and Your Favorite Not-For-Profit — With a QCD this Year!

It’s the best of both worlds! Did you know that you can make a lasting impact on your favorite not-for-profit organization with a tax-efficient Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from your IRA this year? In addition to helping a not-for-profit, your gift will reduce your overall tax burden.

If you are 70 ½ or older and have an IRA, a QCD is a tax-smart way to make an impact by having your generosity go further. Here are several benefits:

  • The value of a QCD will not count as part of your adjusted gross income, so you will not pay income taxes on the amount distributed directly as gifts.
  • Keeping your taxable income lower may reduce the impact to certain tax credits and deductions, including Social Security and Medicare.
  • Beginning in the year you turn 73, you can use your gift to satisfy all or part of your required minimum distribution.
  • The tax benefit does not depend on itemizing.
  • You can also name your favorite not-for-profit as a beneficiary for all or a percentage of your IRA. Because Road Scholar is a tax-exempt not-for-profit, there are both income tax and estate tax benefits.

Learn more about supporting your favorite not-for-profit through your IRA this year.

“I have been a longtime supporter of Road Scholar and its mission to provide educational travel experiences for older adults. This year, I discovered it would be more tax efficient to make my donation as a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from my IRA to Road Scholar and at the same time have it count toward my annual Required Minimum Distribution (RMD). All I had to do was contact my IRA administrator and arrange for them to make the transfer directly. I received the tax benefit and Road Scholar continues to receive my support!”

– Pauline O. from New York, N.Y.