On December 16, 2015, there was an update to this post.
Before reading this, please reference the up-to-date information at:
Qualified Charitable Distribution from IRAs Permanently Extended
For those of you at least 70½ years old, you are probably very aware of minimum required distributions (MRDs) that you are required to withdraw every year from your retirement account(s). What you may not know is that The Pension Protection Act of 2006 enabled IRA owners, age 70½ or over, to directly transfer up to $100,000 per year tax-free to an eligible charity. This option could be used for distributions from IRAs, regardless of whether the owners itemize their deductions. Moreover, the transfer counts as your required minimum distribution (RMD) but does not boost your adjusted gross income. As of this writing, however, Congress has not passed legislation permitting tax-free transfers from IRAs to charity.
