Required Minimum Distributions from your IRA
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) Required Minimum Distributions can be sent directly to the Army War College Foundation to avoid increasing your taxable income.
Upon reaching age 72 (or 70 1/2 if you turned 70 1/2 before Jan 1, 2020), owners of traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA), SIMPLE IRAs or SEP IRAs must withdraw a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) each calendar year. (This rule does not apply to Roth IRAs.) These required distributions are treated as earned income for that tax year, increasing the taxpayer’s Adjusted Gross Income.
A direct transfer of your RMD from your custodian to a qualified charity avoids increasing your taxable income for the year. As a 501(c)3 organization, our Foundation is a qualified recipient of your RMD. If, instead, you cash your RMD check and then send the funds to us, cashing the check will increase your Adjusted Gross Income, possibly changing your tax bracket for the year. A direct transfer to us avoids that increase.