Giving Through Your IRA
Giving Through Your IRA

How It Works

If you are in the fortunate position of not needing your distribution for living expenses, you can avoid income tax on your required withdrawal by donating your money directly to the Foundation for the Diocese of El Paso. You can transfer up to $100,000 per year directly without paying income tax on the transaction.

How You Benefit

Annual withdrawals from traditional retirement accounts are required after age 70 1/2, and the penalty for skipping a required minimum distribution is 50 percent of the amount that should have been withdrawn.

  • By giving, you avoid the income tax penalty on your distributions.
  • You have the satisfaction of seeing your gift immediately support the charity, ministry, parish, or school of your choice.

Are You Eligible

IRA owners must be age 70 1/2 or older to make a tax-free charitable contribution.

Qualified charitable contributions must be made by December 31 order to exclude that amount from taxable income.

Funds must be transferred directly from the IRA to an eligible charity by the IRA trustee in order to qualify for the tax break. If you withdraw the money from your IRA and later donate it, it won’t qualify as a tax-free qualified charitable distribution.

You cannot additionally claim a charitable contribution tax deduction on a charitable distribution from your IRA.

Get Started

  1. Consult with your professional advisor about your financial situation.
  2. You direct distributions in the amount of your choosing from your traditional or Roth IRA to the Foundation for the Diocese of El Paso. This can be a one-time or recurring gift.
  3. The distributions go directly to the Foundation for the Diocese of El Paso and are not subject to federal income tax.

Use Your Estate for Good

If you’re creating or updating your estate plan and would like to include a future gift to the Foundation for the Diocese of El Paso for the charity, ministry, parish or school of your choice, contact Sofía Larkin at (915) 872-8412 or slarkin@elpasodiocese.org to learn how you can make a difference and help build God’s kingdom with your gift.