 |
January 1, 2013 update: Passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 has extended the QCD through the end of 2013. See this article for more details.
In past tax years (through the end of 2011) there was a provision available that allowed taxpayers who were at least age 70½ years of age to make distributions from their IRAs directly to a qualified charity, bypassing the need to include the distribution as income. The law allowed the taxpayer to use a distribution of this nature to satisfy Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) where applicable.
This law expired at the end of 2011, but in years past Congress has acted very late in the year and retroactively reinstated this provision. For more detail on how this provision (if not reinstated) can impact your taxes, see the article Charitable Contributions From Your IRA – 2012 and Beyond.
Guidance For 2012
If you are one of the folks who would really like to utilize the Qualified Charitable Contribution (QCD) provision for 2012, especially if you are hoping to use the distribution to satisfy your RMD for the year, read on. In the event that Congress should happen to act on this to extend the provision late in the year, you’ll want to delay your RMD as late as possible. This means that you shouldn’t take any other distributions from your IRAs earlier in the year.
If you’re hoping to use the QCD but you don’t want to use it to satisfy your RMD for the year, you can take as many distributions as you like, but you’ll want to wait until late in the year (probably mid-December) before you make the planned charitable contribution.
The last time that Congress extended this provision, they did it on December 10th. As long as you make your distribution by December 31, it will still count toward the current tax year, so if you’re hoping to use QCD you can delay to that date if necessary. Practically speaking, if Congress hasn’t acted by Christmas Eve, a change won’t likely occur after that.
Sterling Raskie, MSFS, CFP®, ChFC®
The latest in our Owner’s Manual series, A 401(k) Owner’s Manual, was published in January 2020 and is available on 
A Medicare Owner’s Manual, is updated with 2020 facts and figures. This manual is available on 
Social Security for the Suddenly Single can be found on Amazon at 
Sterling’s first book, Lose Weight Save Money, can be 
An IRA Owner’s Manual, 2nd Edition is available for purchase on Amazon. Click the link to choose the 
Jim’s book – A Social Security Owner’s Manual, is now available on Amazon. Click this link for the 
And if you’ve come here to learn about queuing waterfowl, I apologize for the confusion. You may want to discuss your question with Lester, my loyal watchduck and self-proclaimed “advisor’s advisor”.