IRA history is long and has seen many changes over the years. This article follows the major legislative history of the IRA.
QCD
Charitable Contributions from Your IRA
Once the PATH Act (Protecting Americans Against Tax Hikes) is signed into law, at long last the ability to make a direct contribution from an IRA to a qualified charity will be permanent. For background – a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) is when an individual (age 70 1/2 or older and subject to Required Minimum Distributions from his or her IRA) makes a distribution from his IRA directly to a qualified charity. This distribution can be used to satisfy the Required Minimum Distribution for the year. The distribution is limited to $100,000 for each year per individual. The real advantage of this option is that the owner of the IRA doesn’t have to claim the distribution as taxable income on his or her tax return. Any other distribution of pre-tax dollars typically must be claimed as ordinary income, increasing taxes because of the additional income. In addition, having the increased […]
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Year-End Charitable Giving Tips
The end of the year, especially around the holidays, is a time when many folks’ thoughts turn to charitable giving. Many opportunities present themselves, from the gentleman with the bell and the red kettle to our local food and coat drives. With this in mind, the IRS recently published their Special Edition Tax Tip 2014-13 which details six tips for charitable giving. The actual text of the Tip is listed below. In addition to those tips, I’ll offer one more: if you are interested in utilizing the Qualified Charitable Distribution option from your IRA – presently this option has not been extended for tax year 2014. It’s possible that it might be extended yet this year, so check back here – we’ll keep you posted.
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Resurrecting the Qualified Charitable Distribution?
This past week the US House of Representatives passed a bill (HR 4719, known as the America Gives More Act) which would re-instate the Qualified Charitable Distribution from IRAs and make the provision permanent. This provision expired at the end of 2013, as it has multiple times in the past, only to be re-instated temporarily time and again. A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) is when a person who is at least age 70½ years of age and subject to Required Minimum Distributions from an IRA is allowed to make a distribution from the IRA and direct the distribution to a qualified charitable organization without having to recognize the income for taxable purposes. This has been a popular option for many taxpayers, especially since the QCD can also be recognized as the Required Minimum Distribution for the year from the IRA.
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Qualified Charitable Contributions From Your IRA in 2012 and 2013
With the passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, the provision for Qualified Charitable Contributions (QCD) from an IRA has been extended to the end of calendar year 2013. Great news, right? But what does that mean? Can you make a QCD for 2012? As you know, the QCD provision is limited to taxpayers who are over age 70½ and thus subject to Required Minimum Distributions (RMD). In addition, the QCD must normally be sent directly from your IRA custodian to the qualified charity – it can’t be taken in cash and then sent to the charity. If you qualify and you do the distribution correctly, you will not have to include the distribution on your tax return as income. You also would not count the charitable contribution as an itemized deduction. If you happened to send a distribution directly to a charity from your IRA during 2012, […]
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Guidance on Qualified Charitable Contributions From Your IRA For 2012
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 […]
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Charitable Contributions From Your IRA – 2012 and Beyond
Image via Wikipedia 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. At the end of December, 2011, the provision for Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) expired. That provision allowed the taxpayer age 70½ or older to make direct distributions from an IRA account to a qualified charity, bypassing recognition of the distribution as income. For more information on the expired provision, see the original article about charitable distributions from your IRA. With the expiration of this provision, you can still make charitable contributions of money distributed from your IRA. The difference is that these contributions are no different from a contribution that you’ve made from your savings account or regular income. In order to achieve a tax advantage from the contribution, you will itemize the charitable contribution on your tax return. […]
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