ParetoAlpha
Study · built 6 October 2026 · dates read against October 2026 · JR Barbieri

$6.52 billion, from 1,615 foundations, to be distributed by 31 December 2026.

A private foundation's yearly payout (5% of its investment assets, less its excise tax) is due by the last day of the next tax year; for a calendar-year foundation, the 2025 amount still unpaid is due by 31 December 2026. Across all dates, the latest filed 990-PFs of private foundations with ten million dollars or more report $19.77 billion of undistributed income from 4,837 foundations.

Counts only returns the IRS had published by 6 October 2026. On the 990-PF study's read of 28 September 2026, 5,455 of the 11,842 foundations had a latest return for a period ending in 2025 and 6,229 one ending in 2024. Most 2025 returns not yet in were still to be filed or published (an extended calendar-year return is due in mid-November 2026), so the December 2026 total rises as they arrive. A distribution made after a return was filed is not in it. Not tax or legal advice.

The figures

By the month each amount is to be distributed.

  • $12.75 billion dated before October 2026; a later return may show it paid.
  • $0.13 billion dated October 2026.
  • $6.88 billion dated November 2026 or later, of which $6.52 billion is dated 31 December 2026.
  • Total $19.77 billion. Each figure is rounded, so the parts can differ from the total by $0.01 billion.
$6.52 billiondue by 31 December 2026, from 1,615 foundations
$6.88 billiondated November 2026 or later, from 1,782 foundations
$10.35 billiondated 31 December 2025 on returns filed before that date, from 2,249 foundations; payments since are not shown
$953,000the median undistributed income among the 4,837 foundations
To be distributed by the end ofAgainst October 2026, when last reviewedFoundationsAmount
December 2023before1$3.0 million
October 2024before1$1.2 million
November 2024before1$2.9 million
December 2024before3$2.7 million
May 2025before1$2.4 million
July 2025before1$0.7 million
September 2025before1$0.8 million
October 2025before20$76.3 million
November 2025before46$247.4 million
December 2025before2,249$10.35 billion
January 2026before5$13.7 million
February 2026before12$28.5 million
March 2026before36$126.4 million
April 2026before33$42.7 million
May 2026before52$108.5 million
June 2026before276$872.5 million
July 2026before56$184.1 million
August 2026before58$258.4 million
September 2026before151$431.0 million
October 2026October52$132.7 million
November 2026after85$240.1 million
December 2026after1,615$6.52 billion
January 2027after12$10.7 million
February 2027after11$16.5 million
March 2027after31$66.7 million
April 2027after6$7.3 million
May 2027after8$8.6 million
June 2027after14$12.0 million

A month other than December belongs to a foundation with a fiscal year. A date before 2025 means that foundation’s latest published return is several years old.

Method

How each figure is made.

The population

Private foundations with at least $10 million in assets and an e-filed Form 990-PF the IRS has published. 4,837 report undistributed income on their latest return.

The amount

Part XII, line 6f of the latest return: the year's distributable amount not yet met by qualifying distributions.

The date

The last day of the tax year after the one the amount belongs to, read from the foundation's returns in order.

What it cannot see

A distribution made after the latest return was filed; an amendment not yet published by the IRS; a foundation that files on paper.

Beside the 990-PF study

The 990-PF study reports 4,821 foundations and $19.71 billion: it counts only non-operating, domestic foundations with a positive distributable amount. This page counts every foundation whose latest return reports undistributed income in Part XII, 16 more, for $53.2 million more.

The file

The totals by month are in the data file (CC BY 4.0).

Cite as: Barbieri, J. “Private Foundation Payout Due by 31 December 2026.” The ParetoAlpha Library, study, built 6 October 2026. https://paretoalphasystems.com/research/december-2026

Asked often

How much does a private foundation have to pay out by December?

Its undistributed income for the prior tax year: Part XII, line 6f of its last return, less what it has distributed since. For a calendar-year foundation, the amount from its 2025 return is to be distributed by 31 December 2026.

Does this mean these foundations have not paid?

No. The figure is what each foundation's latest filed return reports as still to be distributed, and the date the statute sets for it. A distribution made after that return was filed is not in it. The next return shows what was paid.

Why is so much of it due in December?

A year's distributable amount may be paid through the last day of the following tax year. Most private foundations keep a calendar year, so most amounts fall due on 31 December.

Which foundations are counted?

Private foundations with at least $10 million in assets whose latest e-filed Form 990-PF reports undistributed income: 4,837 of them. No foundation is named and no EIN is published.

Where does the date come from?

From the foundation's own filings read in order: the year an amount belongs to sets the year it is to be distributed by. A single return does not show that date; the foundation's returns read in order do.

Start

One foundation's own amount and date.

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The rule itself: the 5% payout, line by line.