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I’m hoping Bill Perry and/or one of our other tax experts can answer this.
For tax year 2026, non-itemizers can deduct charitable contributions of up to $1000 (single) or $2000 (married). What I’m trying to understand is whether this deduction is taken before figuring AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) or after. I just did a quick web search and got conflicting answers—even from apparently knowledgeable sources.
Why worry about it long before we’re doing our 2026 taxes? Because every fall I try to estimate what our taxable income will be for the year so as to know how much in QCDs (Qualified Charitable Donations) I should make from our RMD so as to reduce income enough to avoid an IRMAA cliff and/or a higher marginal tax bracket. I imagine there are other HDers who do the same.
Many thanks to anyone who knows the definitive answer.
Andrew. I just ran a scenario on the Dinkytown 1040 calculator with and without the $2,000 charitable deduction. The charitable deduction was treated like the new senior deception. it reduced taxable income by $2,000 but did not reduce AGI. I then ran the same case using AARP’s 1040 calculator and they reduced both AGI and taxable income. They calculated the same tax due, both with and without the charitable contribution. I agree there is confusing info out there.
Claude ai agrees with Dinkytown and said it does not impact AGI. Claude also says there is confusing info sources out there that incorrectly state it reduces AGI. I could not find an authoritative IRS source. I guess for now I would assume it does not reduce AGI, but keep checking.
Rick, thanks very much for doing all that. There really is a bunch of confusing and contradictory info. out there on this.
I agree—till the issue is settled, I’ll assume it doesn’t reduce AGI.
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