Make your mark for generations to come through a Legacy Gift.

Use Your IRA to Make Charitable Gifts
When you reach age 70½, you can take advantage of making a qualified charitable distribution from your IRA. An IRA qualified charitable distribution allows you to make a gift up to $100,000 annually from your IRA to Oblate School of Theology and avoid income taxes on the distribution. Even if you don’t itemize on your federal tax return and take the standard deduction, you can still avoid taxes with this type of gift.

Benefits of a Qualified Charitable Distribution

• Distributions made directly to Oblate School of Theology (our legal title) are not included in your gross income, and thus are not taxed at the federal level.
• Even if you don’t itemize your deductions or if you have maxed out your annual charitable deductions, you can still benefit from making this type of gift because distributions from your IRA directly to Oblate School of Theology are not federally taxed.
• You can make qualified distributions up to $100,000 per individual or $200,000 per couple each year to help people in need.

To Make a Qualifying Gift

• You must be at least age 70½ at the time of the gift.
• Transfers must be made directly from a traditional IRA account by your IRA administrator to Oblate School of Theology (You can write a check directly to the Oblate School of Theology if you have an IRA checking account).
• Do not withdraw your funds and send your gift to the Oblate Missionary Society yourself. Funds that are withdrawn by you and then contributed do NOT qualify.
• The IRS will not recognize your qualified transfer to the Oblates as income; therefore you will not be entitled to a federal income tax deduction for your gift. However, each state treats this differently so please consult your tax or financial advisor.
• Gifts from 401k, 403b, SEP and other plans do not qualify. You must first roll these types of retirement funds into an IRA, and then you can direct your administrator to transfer the funds from your IRA directly to Oblate School of Theology.
• Unfortunately transfers like this cannot fund charitable gift annuities, donor-advised funds or charitable remainder trusts.

Funding a Charitable Gift Annuity with your IRA

On Dec. 23, 2022, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (now signed into law), which includes a package of retirement reform bills including the SECURE 2.0 Act.   

SECURE 2.0 encourages taxpayers to use their IRAs to make qualified charitable distributions (QCD’s) that support their favorite charity like the Oblate School of Theology. SECURE 2.0 enhances QCDs by providing: 

• For tax years beginning in 2023, a one-time opportunity to make a gift of up to $50,000 from an IRA to a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder trust, provided the income interest is held by the taxpayer or the taxpayer’s spouse, or both. 
• Amounts distributed as a QCD can count toward satisfying the taxpayer’s required minimum distribution (“RMD”).  Donors must be at least 70½ to utilize the QCD provision. 

In addition, rates for a charitable gift annuity increased effective January 1, 2023.   

IRA Beneficiary Designations

Consider leaving a legacy gift from your tax-deferred IRA or 401(k) retirement plan to Oblate School of Theology. These plans are typically pre-tax assets that will be heavily taxed when given to anyone other than a spouse. When you name Oblate School of Theology as beneficiary, they will receive 100% of your gift tax free.