If you are 70½ or older with money in a traditional IRA, there is a tax trick that has been on the books since 2006 and still gets overlooked by most retirees.
It is called a qualified charitable distribution, or QCD.
Done right, it lets you send money straight from your IRA to a charity, and that withdrawal never shows up as taxable income.
Here is why that matters more than it sounds.
Once you turn 73, the IRS forces you to take required minimum distributions from most retirement accounts.
That money is taxed as ordinary income, whether you need it or not.
And a required withdrawal can quietly push you into a higher bracket, raise your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums two years later, and increase how much of your Social Security gets taxed.
The transfer goes directly from your IRA custodian to the charity.
It never touches your checking account, so it never appears on your tax return as income.
You cannot also claim it as a charitable deduction, but for most retirees who take the standard deduction, that trade works in your favor.
You can give up to $108,000 per person in 2025, and that figure is indexed for inflation.
A married couple with separate IRAs can each give that amount.
The money must come from an IRA, not a 401(k) or 403(b).
It has to go to a qualified charity, not a donor-advised fund or a private foundation.
And it must be a direct transfer, so writing yourself a check and mailing it does not count.
Ask your IRA custodian for the specific QCD form, not a standard distribution request.
If the check is made out to you, even briefly, the IRS treats it as a taxable withdrawal.
Most large brokerages have an online process now, but some still require a phone call or a paper form, so start early in the year rather than in December.
One more wrinkle worth knowing: a QCD can count toward your required minimum distribution for the year.
So if you were going to write charity checks anyway, routing them through your IRA instead of your bank account can shrink your taxable income without changing how much you actually give.
That is the part that surprises people most.
For retirees who give regularly to a church, a school, or a local food bank, this is often the single easiest tax reduction available.
The catch is that it only helps if the money moves directly, so the charity never sees your name on a personal check.
Our take: this is not a loophole or a gray area, it is a plain rule the IRS wrote and Congress expanded.
If you are over 70½ and charitably inclined, ask your custodian about it before your next required withdrawal.
Final Thoughts
Ten minutes on the phone could keep a few thousand dollars out of your taxable income this year.