If you are 70½ years old or older, you can take advantage of a simple way to benefit St. Andrew’s Charitable Foundation and receive tax benefits in return. You can give up to $100,000 per calendar year, from your IRA directly to a qualified charity such as ours without having to pay income taxes on the money.
This taxpayer is 72 years old and has a required minimum distribution of $12,000. He does not have enough to itemize deductions and has traditionally given $5,000 to his church. Also, assume he has a combined federal and state tax rate of 30%. If he directs $5,000 of his required $12,000 distribution to be paid directly to his church, he is only taxed on $7,000 of the IRA distribution. If the amount is not directly transferred, he has $12,000 of taxable IRA distributions with no offsetting charitable deduction. By taking advantage of a Qualified Charitable Deduction, he has saved $1,500 ($5,000 x 30%).