charitable gift annuity from traditional IRA

[starfisht]

In 2023, I made a QCD as a charitable gift annuity to partly satisfy my RMD. This year I sent a check again to the same charity to do the same thing. The charity deposited my check. The charity is now telling me that they made an error because the law states that making a QCD as a charitable gift annuity is only allowed once. They will return the money.

If I then return that money to my traditional IRA, will the withdrawal be taxed?

[VolvoGirl]

That doesn't sound right.  Did you do the second one in 2024?  I think you can make a QCD up to 100,000 per year.  @dmertz 

See this 
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/charitable-donations-deductions/help/what-is-a-qualified-charitabl...

See IRS Pub 590-B for IRA Distributions page 14 for QCD
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p590b.pdf

[starfisht]

Yes, you certainly can make a QCD every year, but this is a QCD to establish a charitable gift annuity. Apparently it seems that this is only allowed once in a lifetime.

So my question is: Can I return that withdrawal to my traditional IRA and avoid being taxed on it? 

[dmertz]

QCDs to split-interest entities are only allowed in a single calendar year of the individual's life.  In this case it was done in 2023, meaning that it's not permitted to be done in any year after 2023.

You are not permitted to return any part of an RMD to your traditional IRA, so the distribution must be included in taxable income on your 2024 tax return.  Even if you send the funds to a different charity it would not qualify as a QCD because the funds must be sent directly from the IRA to the charity.  If you itemized deductions, you could take a deduction for the charitable gift.

You can still make a QCD from the IRA, but it would be a distribution in addition to your RMD that you have already satisfied.