[quote=no_such_reality]Unfortunately that $450k threshold isn’t a problem yet although we’re still striving forward and hoping to have that problem in the future[/quote]

It only works if you’re retired and pulling money from your IRA’s/401k. I just happen to be in the loop because I know some old farts twice my age at work how were explaining things to me.

My understanding of what they are saying is
1) Let’s say you have your income 100% from long term capital gains of $451k. Your tax would be 20% on that or $90.2k

2) If you donated 2k via QCD, that would put your taxable income into 449k, with a 15% tax rate or $67.35k in taxes, plus $2k in charitable donations to your favorite cause.

I haven’t run it by an accountant to see if that’s correct or not, because it’s really not my problem, and my CPA tends to charge for every question I ask these days… Lol…And besides, that rule will be long gone by the time I retire.

But it does make me wonder. If someone is at/near the threshold. Let’s say they earned exatly $450k instead of $449k, their entire capital gains is taxed 5% more than if they earned an $1000 less…. If that’s the case, lol……Ouch…