1099-R Code Y: Qualified Charitable Distribution (New for 2026 Forms)

IRA money sent straight to charity. If your form is for 2025 or earlier, you will not see this code.

What the IRS instructions say

Official meaning, from the Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 A distribution made directly from an IRA to a charity that the taxpayer intends to treat as a QCD; entered with 4, 7, or K. Optional for tax year 2026 and does not appear on earlier forms.

Is it taxable, and does the 10 percent penalty apply?

A proper QCD is excluded from income: the custodian pays the charity directly from the IRA of an owner 70 and a half or older, the amount counts toward any RMD, and the taxable amount on your return is reduced accordingly. The code only flags the custodian's understanding; the QCD exclusion is still claimed on your Form 1040.

Worth knowing: New for 2026 forms and OPTIONAL for custodians in this first year, so a genuine QCD may still arrive coded as a plain 7. Either way, the exclusion comes from how you report it, not from the letter in the box.

Combinations you might see

Box 7 can carry two codes. With code Y, the pairings mean:

Y7: the common case, a QCD from an owner 70 and a half or older
Y4: a QCD completed by a beneficiary after the owner's death
YK: a QCD of IRA assets without a readily available market value

If this code looks wrong

The IRS matches Box 7 against your return, so start with the payer: request a corrected 1099-R, which is the IRS's standing instruction for incorrect forms. No corrected copy by the end of February? The IRS can contact the payer for you, and Form 4852 substitutes as a last resort. Remember that an indirect 60-day rollover is correctly coded 1 or 7, because the payer cannot see the redeposit; direct rollovers should show G or H, as our rollover guide explains before the paperwork ever gets cut.

← All 1099-R Box 7 codes

Sources: IRS Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498; IRS Tax Topics 558 (early distributions), 413 (rollovers), and 154 (incorrect forms). Verified July 2026.

General educational information, not tax advice. Your distribution's taxation depends on your facts; consult a qualified tax professional. ClearChoiceRadar is not affiliated with the IRS or any government agency.