Does TurboTax document Qualified Charitable Distributions?

[SteamTrain · Accepted solution]

IF you were over 70.5 in 2015.

AND IF you directed any part of your RMD to a charity (must have been done by the Account Administrator)

Then Yes, the tax software handles it......BUT, when you enter the 1099-R, you have to carefully answer the questions that follow your main 1099-R form entry...those questions ask about that transfer of part (or all) of that 1099-R distribution to charity.   IF you import the 1099-R, then you will have to EDIT it to step thru those questions.

Check your form 1040 carefully to make sure the $$ are not being taxed (lines 15a,b or 16a,b on a form 1040) and that "QCD" is printed next to that line

[marian-h]

It only handles the situation where the administrator sends the check directly to the charity, but in my case the checks were mailed to me to be sent to the charity. Unless the question is just written poorly.

[SteamTrain]

Supposedly if the check was written to the charity's name, without you being able to cash it...then that works too.
"The Pay-to-the-Order-of":  cannot be addressed to you on the check.

[marian-h]

Yes. After wasting about 15 minutes on the issue, I filled the amount of the QCD in the "paid directly" box of TurboTax, and it did fill out the form correctly. My issue isn't with the tax rules, just getting TurboTax to fill out the forms correctly without a bunch of overrides.

[nestlee10125]

Yes

[Tsing]

I only see in form 1040 under IRA distribution line 4a and 4 b you have QCD on the side line, then the RMD is reduced by the amount of QCD you made.   I do not see anything on line 15a, b or 16 a, b for QCD. 

The 1099-R does not like the number I put in,: 

the review says that Qual charitable distribution should not have a value.  Only distributions from an IRA qualify for the charitable distribution exclusion.  However, the Charitable distribution was made directly from the IRA

[SteamTrain]

@Tsing 

Start a brand new Question from scratch.....don't jsut tag on a comment here.

THIS IS AN OLD  Q&A SESSION  REFERENCES TO LINES 15a,b AND 16a,b REFER TO TAX FORMS FROM 2017 AND EARLIER.  THE NEW TAX FORMS ARE NOW TOTALLY DIFFERENT.

[lixeykm]

Where does Turbotax document Qualified Charitable Distributions?

[MarilynG1]

@lixeykm The IRS does not require any supporting documentation to be included with your tax return when reporting a QCD.

If you are the IRA participant, for TurboTax to ask if any portion of your distribution was transferred to charity, your birthdate entered into TurboTax must indicate that you were at least age 70½ by the end of the tax year, the Form 1099-R must have code 7, and the IRA/SEP/SIMPLE box must be marked.

Click this link for more info on QCD Distributions.. 

[jclong77]

i tried all of that but never got any questions about whether any of the distribution went to charity.

[macuser_22]

2020 TurboTax presently has a bug the prevents it from asking the necessary question for those with birthdates between July 1, 1949 and June 30, 1950. As a workaround for this, with the CD/download version you can provide the QCD-amount information on the 1099-R in forms mode or in any version of TurboTax you can temporarily change your birthdate in TurboTax to something before July 1, 1949, edit the 1099-R form in TurboTax and answer the question asking how much was transferred to charity, then change your birthdate in TurboTax back to your actual birthdate.

This is due to TurboTax implementing the new IRA RMD age from 70 1/2 to 72, but overlooking that the 70 1/2 age for the QCD did not change. The TurboTax QCD question is tied to the RMD question so if you don't get the RMD question you will not get the QCD question either. This should be fixed in a future update - no telling when, but there is no downside to the workaround as long as the correct DOB is changed back after entering the QCD.2020 TurboTax presently has a bug the prevents it from asking the necessary question for those with birthdates between July 1, 1949 and June 30, 1950. As a workaround for this, with the CD/download version you can provide the QCD-amount information on the 1099-R in forms mode or in any version of TurboTax you can temporarily change your birthdate in TurboTax to something before July 1, 1949, edit the 1099-R form in TurboTax and answer the question asking how much was transferred to charity, then change your birthdate in TurboTax back to your actual birthdate.

This is due to TurboTax implementing the new IRA RMD age from 70 1/2 to 72, but overlooking that the 70 1/2 age for the QCD did not change. The TurboTax QCD question is tied to the RMD question so if you don't get the RMD question you will not get the QCD question either. This should be fixed in a future update - no telling when, but there is no downside to the workaround as long as the correct DOB is changed back after entering the QCD.