For many years, the charitable community has sought legislation that would treat a transfer from an IRA for a life-income plan (gift annuity, charitable remainder annuity trust, and charitable remainder unitrust) as a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). We are pleased to report that the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, also known as the omnibus bill, which was passed by Congress and signed by the President in December 2022, contains such a provision. This came about because legislation known as the SECURE 2.0 Act, which contains numerous provisions related to retirement plans, was included in the omnibus bill. One of those provisions amended IRC Sec. 408(d)(8) to expand QCDs to include transfers from an IRA for gift annuities, charitable remainder annuity trusts, and charitable remainder unitrusts (commonly called life-income plans) subject to certain requirements and limitations.
This whitepaper responds to frequently asked questions about the new legislation.