If you are 70½ or older on the date of the transfer, you may be able to give directly from your individual retirement account through a qualified charitable distribution, commonly called a QCD. For 2026, the federal exclusion is generally capped at $111,000 per eligible person. To use it, your IRA trustee must make the payment directly to an eligible charity. Before requesting a transfer, confirm that the charity can receive it and ask your IRA provider when it must receive your instructions. IRS 2026 limit · IRS distribution FAQs
Start with two questions about the gift
Suppose a retired couple in Gainesville wants to support work in Northern Virginia before the year ends. They have decided how much they can give. Two practical questions remain: What work do we want to support? And can the organization receive a payment from our IRA provider? The answer to one does not settle the other.
Helping Hands for Nations Inc., based in Manassas, offers free online Women’s Support & Guidance. Women can request help locating independent community resources in Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu or English, subject to staff availability. The organization’s Virginia medical equipment initiative is at a different stage. Its page describes a planned 2027 launch, subject to approvals and operating arrangements, and says it is not yet accepting equipment orders. A donor interested in mobility support can ask what preparation a gift would fund. Women’s Support & Guidance · Medical Equipment & Mobility Support
Helping Hands’ official Donate page offers ordinary online giving through Zeffy. At the time of review, its public donation materials did not confirm acceptance of QCDs or provide IRA transfer instructions. A donor in Fairfax, Manassas or Gainesville considering this route can send a short inquiry:
I’m considering a 2026 gift directly from my IRA. Can Helping Hands accept a payment from my IRA custodian? If so, please confirm the legal payee, delivery instructions, how to identify me for the acknowledgment and whether you can accept my preferred use in writing.
Wait for those details before instructing the custodian. For a separate gift paid personally, use the regular donation page. Contact Helping Hands · Official Donate page · Donation policy
Check who pays whom
The decisive detail is the payee. If your IRA provider makes a distribution payable to you, you deposit it, and then you donate online, those are two transactions. The IRA withdrawal is generally taxable to the extent it normally would be. Your later donation is evaluated under the rules for personal charitable gifts. Paying the same amount to the same charity does not turn the earlier withdrawal into a QCD. IRS Publication 590-B
Before authorizing a direct IRA gift, confirm four things:
| Check | What to confirm for 2026 |
|---|---|
| Age and account | You have reached age 70½ by the distribution date. The usual route is a traditional IRA. An ongoing SEP or SIMPLE IRA is excluded from this rule. |
| Recipient and purpose | The recipient is eligible for a QCD. Donor-advised funds are excluded. Arrange a gift for which you receive no dinner, ticket or other benefit of value. |
| Amount | The $111,000 annual ceiling applies across your qualifying transfers. The exclusion is limited to amounts that would otherwise be taxable. Deductible IRA contributions made for years in which you were 70½ or older can further reduce the exclusion. Have your preparer check that adjustment if it applies. |
| Timing | For a calendar-year donor, complete the distribution by December 31, 2026. Ask the custodian for its processing cutoff and how it confirms completion. A request submitted on December 31 may still be pending in January. The deadline for filing your return in 2027 does not extend the transfer deadline. |
How the federal and Virginia tax treatment works
An eligible QCD can keep an otherwise taxable IRA distribution out of federal income. You may use the exclusion even if you take the standard deduction. If you owe a required minimum distribution, or RMD, an eligible QCD can count toward that year’s requirement. If you already received the full RMD personally, a later charitable transfer cannot retroactively change the treatment of that earlier withdrawal. IRS distribution FAQs
Claim the tax treatment once. An amount excluded as a QCD cannot also be claimed as a charitable deduction. If you make a separate qualifying cash gift from your own funds in 2026, eligible federal standard-deduction filers may deduct up to $1,000, or $2,000 if married filing jointly, across qualifying cash gifts for the year. For itemizers, a 0.5%-of-adjusted-gross-income floor generally applies to charitable contributions. Cash gifts to most public charities are also generally subject to a 60%-of-AGI ceiling. Those ordinary donation rules apply separately from the QCD limit. IRS guidance for nonitemizers · IRS Publication 505 · IRS Publication 526
For a Virginia resident, the state income calculation starts with federal adjusted gross income and then applies Virginia adjustments. A properly excluded federal QCD generally already sits outside that starting figure. The transfer does not create a second Virginia charitable deduction. For a separate personal gift, Virginia generally follows the federal choice to itemize or take the standard deduction, with state adjustments for itemizers. Check the final 2026 Virginia instructions when filing. Virginia Code § 58.1-322 · Virginia Tax forms
A deduction reduces taxable income. A credit reduces tax owed under a particular credit program. A QCD exclusion keeps the qualifying distribution out of income in the first place. The tax effect depends on how much of the distribution would otherwise have been taxable, your other income and the tax rates that apply. The amount the charity receives is not a measure of your tax savings.
Keep the charity letter with the IRA paperwork
Keep the custodian’s transfer confirmation, the charity’s acknowledgment and Form 1099-R together. They answer different questions: when the money left the IRA, what the charity received and what the custodian reported. Ask the charity to identify the amount and confirm whether you received any goods or services. For a single contribution of $250 or more, obtain the required written acknowledgment by the earlier of the day you file your original return or its due date, including extensions. IRS acknowledgment requirements
Frequently asked questions
My 2026 Form 1099-R has no QCD code. Does that settle the question?
No. The IRS says a custodian’s use of code Y is optional for tax year 2026. Keep the form and give your preparer the transfer confirmation and charity acknowledgment so they can determine and report the qualifying amount. IRS Form 1099-R instructions
Can I give from my IRA before I have to take an RMD?
Yes, if you have reached 70½ on the transfer date and satisfy the other QCD rules. You do not need to wait until your first required-distribution year. IRS Publication 590-B
Can I use the charity’s Donate button to make a QCD?
A personal card payment through an online checkout is an ordinary monetary gift. For a QCD, obtain instructions from the charity and arrange direct payment through your IRA provider. Helping Hands publishes its regular giving and contact options here. Official Donate page · Contact the organization