I noted some time back here, and on my site, that in 2006 and 2007, any or all of one's pre-tax IRA money (within certain limits) may be donated to charity, and not declared as income.
This opportunity had very limited appeal as it would take a combination of a) someone taking RMD, and b) not able to itemize, and c) wanting to make a donation large enough to be worth the effort.
I have an 80 year old in exactly that position, and as part of our November year end planning found she met all three criteria above.
Now that she handed me her folder with all her tax stuff, I see that the entry form for 1099-R (on Turbo Tax) has exactly the line we need which reads as follows;
"Qualified Charitable Distribution - Enter IRA distributions made directly by the trustee to a qualified charitable organization"
This post is a result of my recalling a question here, "how will the broker handle this?" In fact, the Schwab 1099 shows her entire RMD, but we have the correct entry on Turbo Tax, and a copy of a check from Schwab right to the charity. The donation is netted out on the tax form before hitting the 1040.
I don't know if such stats are kept, but I'd think that a tiny fraction of taxpayers actually could take advantage of this, and fewer still actually did. JOE