Starting this year, the doubling of the standard deduction reduces the percentage of taxpayers who itemize their deductions from 30 percent to between five and 10 percent.

Now that many more clients will be taking the standard deduction, making direct transfers from IRAs to charities is a smart tax strategy for additional donors. And, direct IRA transfers from IRAs can also be advantageous for taxpayers who itemize. I’d alert clients about this taxwise way of supporting charities now rather than waiting until later in the year. It’ll be too late if they’ve already made withdrawals from their IRAs.

Tax Free Direct Charitable/IRA Distributions