Executive Summary
While charitable giving should always be done first and foremost for charitable and not tax purposes, the Internal Revenue Code does afford a number of different tax strategies for charitable giving. In recent years, the opportunity to complete "Qualified Charitable Distributions" (QCDs) directly from IRAs to a charity have been especially popular, in part because QCDs not only allow for "spending" amounts in IRAs without ever paying any taxes, but also because QCDs satisfy an individual's Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) obligations (and since QCDs are only available to those over age 70 1/2, there must be an RMD to satisfy!).
However, the reality is that while QCDs from IRAs do have favorable tax treatment, they are generally still less favorable than donating appreciated securities to satisfy charitable goals. While the former allows for entirely pre-tax charitable contributions (directly from an IRA), the latter effectively provides a "double tax" benefit, as contributions are deductible (making them pre-tax) and donations of appreciated securities permanently avoid taxes on the associated capital gains. As a result, while QCDs from an IRA are better to satisfy charitable goals than just writing a check or giving cash, using appreciated securities is still better (and the greater the appreciation, the more they come out ahead!).
Notwithstanding this difference in treatment, QCDs are still preferrable in situations where the deduction for donating appreciated securities might be limited - for instance, if the deductions in total will exceed the charitable contribution AGI limits (including the 5-year carryforward), where deductions have been already capped at 80% due to the Pease limitation, or for those who have so little in the way of itemized deductions that it would be better for them to simply claim the standard deduction (and donate separately via QCDs if desirable). And of course, sometimes the dollar amounts involved simply don't make it worthwhile to go through the hassle of donating appreciated securities. Thus, ultimately, whether QCDs or donating appreciated securities will be more tax-efficient depends upon the facts and circumstances of the situation; nonetheless, all else being equal, QCDs still tend not to be the best charitable giving option available!
The rules allowing Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) from IRAs were first enacted as part of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, but were effective for only that year and 2007. At the end of 2007, the QCD rules lapsed, only to be reinstated retroactively for 2008 and into 2009 as an add-on to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (the legislation that also created the Troubled Asset Relief Program {TARP}). At the end of 2009, the rules lapsed once again, and in the following year were reinstated retroactively once again for 2010 (and extended into 2011) as a part of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the first "fiscal cliff" legislation). After 2011, the rules lapsed yet again, and most recently were reinstated again by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (the latest "fiscal cliff" legislation), once again bringing the rules back retroactively for 2012 (for which a special extension rule was necessary since the law wasn't even passed until January 2nd of 2013!) and extending them through the end of 2013, when they are scheduled yet again to lapse.
Given this varied on-again-off-again past, while the odds seem relatively good that QCDs will once again be extended - if not by the end of the year, then retroactively sometime in 2014 - under current law, clients have only a few more weeks to implement the strategy before it lapses once again.
Rules For QCDs
The requirements for completing QCDs are relatively straightforward: distributions must be made directly from an IRA to a charity (i.e., the distribution check is made payable directly to the charity), and must occur after the IRA owner has turned 70 1/2 (i.e., the IRA owner must actually be beyond 70 years and 6 months on the date of the QCD itself). Taxpayers are limited to up to $100,000 of qualified charitable distributions in a single tax year (though any distributions done in January of 2013 could have been applied against the 2012 tax year instead), though the limit is a per-IRA-owner limit (which means a husband and wife can each do $100,000, for a total of $200,000 as a couple, as long as each individually meets the requirements).
Properly completed QCDs in 2013 are excluded from income as an IRA distribution; no charitable deduction should be claimed for the amounts, as they are already a "perfect" pre-tax contribution by virtue of the fact that they came directly from an IRA. If the IRA has non-deductible contributions, QCDs are assumed to come directly from the pre-tax portion of the account (not from the after-tax amounts, and not on a pro-rata basis like other IRA distributions; see IRC Section 408(d)(8)(D)).
To the extent that the IRA owner also faces required minimum distributions (RMDs) - which must be the case, given that the owner must be over age 70 1/2 at the time - any QCDs will also satisfy the taxpayer's RMD obligations. However, it's worth noting that QCDs can only be done from an IRA, and only satisfy RMDs associated with IRAs (and not other types of retirement accounts like a 401(k) plan).
QCDs Compared To Other Charitable Alternatives
Given that QCDs provide a means to extra money on a pre-tax basis from an IRA - without ever facing taxation - and also satisfy RMDs (without triggering any income tax consequences), they have been a relatively popular strategy in recent years, especially for those who already were making charitable contributions anyway and faced an RMD regardless. While the individual theoretically could simply take the RMD and use the proceeds to make a charitable contribution by cash or check - with the deduction from the latter offsetting the income from the former - in practice they rarely offset perfectly, given that the RMD is "above-the-line" income when calculating AGI, while the charitable deduction is below-the-line and subject to various limitations). As a result, QCDs are virtually always at least slightly more tax-efficient than just donating by cash or check to offset the income from RMDs.
However, the reality is that while QCDs are more effective than simply donating by cash or check, they are still not as effective as donating appreciated securities. As discussed previously on this blog, donating appreciated securities essentially produces a "double" tax benefit - the full fair market value deduction nearly offsets the amount of any RMDs, and the individual permanently avoids the associated long-term capital gains liability. The greater the embedded gains in the investment being donated, the greater the tax leverage of using appreciated securities in lieu of QCDs. For instance, if a client in the 25% tax bracket has a $10,000 RMD and satisfies it with a $10,000 QCD, then $2,500 of taxes are permanently avoided. However, if the client takes the $10,000 RMD (triggering approximately $2,500 of taxes) and separately donates $10,000 of appreciated securities with a cost basis of $5,000, then the deduction produces roughly $2,500 of tax savings and the client permanently avoids what would have been a 15% x $5,000 = $750 long-term capital gains tax liability. The end result: the QCD saves $2,500 in taxes, but the donation of appreciated securities saves $3,250.
It's also notable that because QCDs must be made to certain types of public charities (so-called "50% charities") the options for charitable entities are more limited; if the client wishes to fund a donor-advised fund, a split-interest trust (e.g., a charitable remainder trust) or most forms of private foundations, then the donation must be done using appreciated securities (or cash or check outright), as a QCD would be ineligible for favorable tax treatment.
When QCDs Are Still Best
Notwithstanding the example above, the reality is that there are still some situations when QCDs are more favorable than donating appreciated securities after all.
The first is when the donation of appreciated securities will not be deductible due to the annual charitable contribution limitations (generally, 30% of AGI where appreciated securities are donated to a public charity); because QCDs are not treated as a charitable contribution (as they're directly excluded from income), the favorable QCD treatment is available even if the charitable contribution limits have otherwise been reached. Bear in mind, though, that excess charitable contributions are eligible for a carryforward for up to 5 years, so just because the deduction for donating appreciated securities cannot be used this year (due to the AGI limits) doesn't mean it won't be available. Nonetheless, in some situations charitable contributions are so high relative to income that the deduction cannot be used, even with carryforwards; in such situations, QCDs provide more favorable tax treatment (either in lieu of, or in addition to, further donating appreciated securities).
At the other end of the scale, if income is extremely high relative to deductions, the itemized deductions may be partially phased out as a result of the Pease limitation. As discussed previously on this blog, the mere presence of the Pease limitation should not be viewed as a disincentive against charitable giving, as it has no marginal effect on the value of a charitable deduction (including donating appreciated securities). However, if income is so high relative to deductions that they are being phased out all the way to the 80%-of-deductions cap, then the value of charitable deductions are in fact diminished (to about 20% of their normal value); as a result, while merely being subject to the Pease limitation should not dissuade using appreciated securities, those who have reached the Pease limitation cap should look to QCDs as a more favorable alternative.
For those with more limited itemized deductions, it's also worth noting that donating appreciated securities is also less favorable if the client doesn't itemize deductions in the first place; if claiming the standard deduction, there is no benefit to donating appreciated securities as the deduction applies instead of - not in addition to - the standard deduction. Even if the reality is that the client is making a large enough donation of appreciated securities that the charitable deduction created by the contribution may itself be enough to exceed the standard deduction threshold, the value is still limited. For instance, the standard deduction for a married couple both over age 65 is $14,600 in 2013; if the client donates $15,000 of appreciated securities, the charitable deduction of $15,000 exceeds the standard deduction of $14,600 (so the client will itemize). However, the reality is that the strategy only produces a charitable deduction that is $400 larger than just claiming the standard deduction, while doing a QCD would produce tax savings based on the entire $15,000 amount. Thus, donating appreciated securities really works best when the client has enough deductions to itemize before including the charitable contributions themselves.
And of course, the reality is that the decision to donate appreciated securities is a moot point if the client has no appreciated securities available to donate in the first place, whether because investment positions are down, the highly appreciated securities are held within IRAs (which are not eligible for the appreciated securities treatment), because the available securities are not transferrable, due to the fact that the receiving charity isn't set up to receive securities as gifts, or simply because the client isn't making a large enough contribution to merit the use of appreciated securities in the first place. In situations where the contribution will be made by cash or check, at worst using QCDs will come out with equal benefit, and often will be slightly more tax efficient. Nonetheless, while QCDs may be effective as an alternative to cash/check contributions for smaller dollar amounts, clients should still recognize that if the dollar amounts are feasible, using appreciated securities are still usually the better (tax) route!
Would be interesting to add to this post the estate tax considerations. By definition, people interested in QCDs are in their 70s or older, so in the QCD vs. appreciated asset comparison they should blend in estate tax considerations into the analysis.
For example, if the client would otherwise hold the appreciated asset until death, it would receive a stepped-up basis in the hands of his heirs, so this would also avoid the capital gains tax on sale ($750 in the post’s example).
Hooroy:
Considering legacy goals, the QCD can become the preferred charitable gifting technique. I think of a pre-tax (qualified) IRA as a joint account between the account holder and the IRS. Clients who want to leverage charitable gifting to minimize their tax liability during their lifetime and maximize the after tax assets for their personal beneficiaries can benefit from maximizing the QCD and holding the appreciated securities to death and receive the step-up. There are a number of important factors to consider with this strategy that can not be computed with a spreadsheet, namely: portfolio concentration risk and client health/longevity.
Mike,
with reference to your posting here:
http://www.kitces.com/blog/mailbag-is-a-qualified-charitable-distribution-qcd-from-an-ira-better-than-donating-appreciated-securities/
That,
“The issue is that while a QCD avoids an ordinary income tax rate of up to 39.6%, a donation of appreciated securities also gives a tax deduction that avoids a tax up to 39.6%; however, donating the appreciated securities also avoids a long-term capital gains tax, too!”
There is an issue with the actual transfer of assets while donating appreciated properties to charities
Reading your text on the tax issues sure sounds simple. But often the complexity of the transfer makes the whole process quite aggravating.
Transferring Stocks requires that your Broker and the Donee’s Broker cooperate on taking action together to have the appropriate transfer agent re-register the stock in the donee’s name. Transferring mutual fund shares would require the donee to have or open an account at the same mutual fund provider which may require a minimum investment to open an account or be closed to new investors. All these consume time and efforts to carry out the process in a timely manner. B/c of it many donors would rather do it the old way thru donor-advised fund.
Can you think of an easier approach?
Avi:
If the charitable entity does not have a brokerage account to transfer the assets or their custodian is un-cooperative, one solution is to leverage a Donor Advised Fund to accept the initial contribution and then process a cash distribution as a Recommended Grant. The initial grant can be effected with a Letter of Authorization or with an ACAT form from the DAF if you are transferring between custodians. If your custodian offers a DAF (Schwab, Fidelity, et al), the process is simple and painless for the client and advisor. One caveat..make sure the final charitable entity is approved to receive distributions from the DAF.
Remember death causes a step up in basis of appreciated securities. IRAs are valued for estate tax purposes at FMV but don’t get a step up in basis, so heirs pay ordinary income taxes on their distributions from your IRA. The income in respect to decedent deduction allows for a minor mitigatin of this double tax problem. So it seems to me a 76 year old that holding my low basis stock makes sense and so does depleting my IRA.
QCDs can also be better than gifting appreciated securities when the client is getting Social Security, because by reducing AGI via QCDs, less SS is subject to tax.
Having carryover capital losses means I don’t pay tax on appreciated securities in any case, so donating them has no advantage; better to keep my AGI down with a QCD.
Carryover losses can be used for future capital gains. As long as you’re not going to die without ever using the carryover losses, or fail to generate any gains on any investments ever, you’re still ahead to donate appreciated securities and retain the carryover losses for OTHER gains in the future.
– Michael
Can highly appreciated securities be used to set up donor advised fund with client taking charitable contribution and
What about these reasons?
Since both the IRA distribution and the charitable contribution are excluded from income and deduction, AGI is lower than it would be if the contribution were not made. Lowering AGI is more valuable than taking a charitable deduction. Literally dozens of tax calculations are based on AGI. Some of these include:
Medical expenses for seniors are limited to the excess over 10% of AGI (7 1/2% of AGI through 2016)
Miscellaneous itemized deductions are limited to the excess over 2% of AGI
Itemized deductions are generally reduced by 3% of AGI above a threshold
Personal exemptions begin to phase out as AGI exceeds a threshold
Up to 85% of Social Security income becomes taxable as AGI increases
Eligibility for Roth IRA contribution goes away after AGI exceeds a threshold
The 3.8% tax on net investment income only applies to AGI above a threshold.
It may also be beneficial to consider the client’s longevity in making the decision to do a QCD versus a gift of appreciated securities. Since the IRA assets receive no step up in basis because it’s IRD, it might be better to do a QCD and let the beneficiaries inherit the stepped up non-qualified assets. Of course, there’s a few moving parts there including understanding their estate, beneficiaries tax rates, etc. Just another thought.