If I endorse a RMD check to me and then write "pay only to" (and name my church)" and take it to my church for their deposit, can it count as a QCD?

[DDollar]

No. Here are the rule for for a Qualified Charitable Donation.  See the last bullet point.

A direct transfer of funds from your IRA custodian, payable to a qualified charity is referred to as a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD).  QCDs can be counted toward satisfying your required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the year, as long as certain rules are met.  While the QCD amount is not taxed, you may not then claim the distribution as a charitable tax deduction.

Here are the requirements for making QCDs:

• You must be 70½ or older to be eligible to make a QCD.
• QCDs are limited to the amount that would otherwise be taxed as ordinary income. This excludes non-deductible contributions.
• The maximum annual amount that can qualify for a QCD is $100,000. This applies to the sum of QCDs made to one or more charities in a calendar year. (If, however, you file taxes jointly, your spouse can also make a QCD from his or her own IRA within the same tax year for up to $100,000.)
• For a QCD to count towards your current year's RMD, the funds must come out of your IRA by your RMD deadline, generally December 31.
• Any amount donated above your RMD does not count toward satisfying a future year's RMD.
• Funds distributed directly to you, the IRA owner, and which you then give to charity do not qualify as a QCD.

A check made payable to you and endorsed to your church is not a direct transfer of funds.  You can take the check back to your IRA custodian (if it has been less than 60 days) and re-deposit and then have the RMD directly transferred to the Church.

[macuser_22]

You *cannot* take the check back and re-deposit unless the entire 2019 RMD has already been taken and the check for for an amount that exceeded the total 2019 RMD because no part of a RMD is eligible for rollover.

I say 2019, since if a 2018 check it is already more then 60 days even if the rollover was not part of the 2018 RMD.

[JG4]

My custodian (Tradestation) will only send a check made out to me. It seems to me since I never actually have the money in a way I could use it or profit by it, and the church actually cashes the check, then the transfer of funds is to them. But I bow to your knowledge.

[DDollar]

I'm sorry you didn't find my answer to your question helpful.  Is there something wrong with my answer (it's a recap of the IRS rules), or did you just not like it?

[macuser_22]

If the check is made out and is payable to the charity then it will qualify as a QCD even if sent to you to deliver, but it cannot be made out to you or it does not qualify.    If your name is on the check then you had constructive receipt of the money and then *you* transfered it to the charity - that is not a direct transfer and is not allowed.

The IRS rules require a *direct* transfer by the trustee to the charity trustee.

"A qualified charitable distribution (QCD) generally is a nontaxable distribution made directly by the trustee of your IRA (other than a SEP or SIMPLE IRA) to an organization eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions. You must be at least age 70½ when the distribution was made. Also, you must have the same type of acknowledgment of your contribution that you would need to claim a deduction for a charitable contribution. See Records To Keep in Pub. 526."

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590b">https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590b</a>

[dmertz]

Whoever marked the answer as unhelpful is just shooting the messenger.

You are considered in constructive receipt of the funds if you have the check made payable to you in hand.  Endorsing the check over to a third-party does not change that fact that you are in receipt of the distribution and the funds have come under your direct control.

If your current custodian will not make the check payable to the charity instead of to you, consider doing a trustee-to-trustee transfer (not a distribution and rollover) of the IRA to a custodian that can support making QCDs of subsequent RMD distributions.