Margie Barber
Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from your IRA are fully taxable unless they are a QCD (Qualified Charitable Donation)!
If you need to take an RMD before the 2025 tax year ends, the amount you receive will be taxable and may even put you in a higher tax bracket. Fortunately, Congress provided a tax-free option by allowing you to donate your RMDs to charitable causes, and The Women of Quail Creek (TWOQC) has two to choose from: Scholarships or Community Outreach.
All distributions from a traditional individual retirement arrangement (IRA) are taxable when received unless the funds are used for a Qualified Charitable Distribution that has been paid directly out of your RMD. Thus, all distributions less than $105,000 each year become tax-free, but only as long as the distributions are paid directly from the IRA by your IRA trustee to a qualified charity.
Since TWOQC is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization, any donation made to them, whether to the Scholarship Fund or to Community Outreach, is fully tax-deductible. And so, this time of year, one of the best ways to donate to either of these worthy causes is by means of a Qualified Charitable Distribution.
Each year, an individual IRA owner age 70-1/2 or over can exclude from gross income up to $105,000 by making a QCD. For a married couple, if both spouses are age 70-1/2 or over and both have IRAs, each spouse can exclude up to $105,000, for a total of up to $210,000 per year. In addition, once the owner of the IRA reaches 73 years of age, QCDs also count toward the IRA owner’s annual RMD. Qualified Charitable Distributions must be sent directly by your IRA trustee, either electronically or by check, to the charity of your choice. And the QCD option has another advantage—even if you don’t itemize your deductions, you’re still able to avoid additional taxes, while at the same time helping women to receive an education and/or providing other support for the community!
To donate to Scholarships, contact Deb Melton, director of Scholarships, at scholarships@womenqc.com. For Community Outreach, contact Roxanne Housley, director of Community Outreach, at Roxanne.housley@gmail.com.
But either way, if you wish to donate to one of these great TWOQC causes for 2025, it’s important to contact your IRA trustee and/or financial advisor as soon as possible so that the transaction can be completed before the end of the year.