How much money can you gift without taxes?

[RSKY]

How much money can you give someone, or they give you, without them having to pay taxes on it?

To cover unexpected expenses that nobody could anticipate.

To a family member.

RSKY

 

[riptides]

How much money can you give someone, or they give you, without them having to pay taxes on it?

To cover unexpected expenses that nobody could anticipate.

To a family member.

RSKY

19k per person.

You and your wife - 38k.

 

[dougtrr2]

Actually, my understanding is 19K is the amount you can give without YOU having to file a gift tax return. I think it has something to do with you are allowed a certain amount to pass on to your heirs and the 19K limit per year is geared to those with estates that exceed the limit allowed by law to prevent them from giving it away before they die and "cheating" the government out of their potential cut.

As with all advice here, you are better off to ask the question of a competent professional.

Doug in SW IA

 

[riptides]

Frequently asked questions on gift taxes | Internal Revenue Service

Find common questions and answers about gift taxes, including what is considered a gift, which gifts are taxable and which are not and who pays the gift tax.

www.irs.gov

 

[MossRoad]

How much money can you give someone, or they give you, without them having to pay taxes on it?

To cover unexpected expenses that nobody could anticipate.

To a family member.

RSKY

There are some exceptions for medical bills and some other stuff.

 

[Snobdds]

Also, the giver pays the tax, not the receiver.

 

[murphy1244]

The general rule is that any gift is a taxable gift. However, there are many exceptions to this rule. Generally, the following gifts are not taxable gifts.

1. Gifts that are not more than the annual exclusion for the calendar year.
2. Tuition or medical expenses you pay for someone (the educational and medical exclusions).
3. Gifts to your spouse.
4. Gifts to a political organization for its use.

In addition to this, gifts to qualifying charities are deductible from the value of the gift(s) made

 

[hayden]

Here's my understanding. You need to consider both the giver and the recipient.

For the recipient, gifts are not taxable.

For the giver, the gift is also not taxable. However, if it's over the $19k/yr exemption, you need to file a gift tax return and the amount over $19k gets deducted from your federal estate tax exemption limit. So let's say you gift $1,019,000 to someone. That's $1m over the $19K limit. Say the federal estate tax exception when you die is $5m. Your exemption gets reduced by the $1m that you gifted in excess of the allowed limit, so your estate will only have a $4m exemption remaining.

 

[dstig1]

I believe there is one more detail on the medical and education expenses issue. Payments made DIRECTLY to the institution do not count against the gift limit. So if you pay their hospital bills DIRECTLY to the hospital, no problem. If you give the money to the person and then they pay the bills, that is a gift. Even though the net result is the same to us normal people.

 

[thclimer]

I have often wondered how the "lifetime estate tax exemption" works:

What is the Gift Tax Exclusion for 2025?