The QCD: Give From Your IRA, Skip the Tax

If you're 70½+, a Qualified Charitable Distribution sends money straight from your IRA to charity — and it's an exclusion, not a deduction, so it never touches your income. That quietly lowers your AGI (less Social Security taxed, lower IRMAA, dodges the NIIT), counts toward your RMD, and works even if you take the standard deduction. Up to $111,000 per person in 2026.