Can RMDs from an inherited IRA be sent directly to a charity as Qualified non taxable distributions, if I am under 70.5?

[rfentin]

Can RMDs from an inherited IRA be sent directly to a charity as Qualified non taxable distributions, if an individual is under 70.5?

[SweetieJean]

No. It's not even an RMD, since you are under age 70.5.

You must take a taxable distribution, and then send it to the charity yourself, and claim it on Schedule A.

[SweetieJean]

Oh, wait....it's inherited? From whom? Did you roll it over to your own IRA?

[SweetieJean]

Under the QCD rules, the IRA owner must be at least age 70 ½ to do the QCD to the charity (and notably, the IRA owner must actually be age 70 ½ or older on the date of distribution, not merely turning 70 ½ sometime that year). Under IRS Notice 2007-7, Q&A-37, even a beneficiary of an inherited IRA can be eligible for a QCD, as long as the beneficiary themselves is at least age 70 ½ on the date of the distribution.

[dmertz]

More accurately, the individual for whom the account is *maintained* (in this case the beneficiary of the inherited IRA) must be age 70½ or older to make a QCD.  (TurboTax mistakenly also requires that you indicate a birthdate for the original owner that implies that, at the time of the QCD, the original owner would have been age 70½ had they lived, but there is no such requirement in the tax code.)

[rfentin]

These responses are very very helpful  - it can be confusing