The lifetime gift tax exemption is the amount of money or assets the government permits you to give away over the course of your lifetime without having to pay the federal gift tax. This limit is adjusted each year. For 2025, the lifetime gift tax exemption is $13.99 million, up from $13.61 million in 2024.
Lifetime gifts are cash or assets gifted by the person who died while they were still alive. An example of a lifetime gift is if a father gives his son £10,000 a year for 5 years before he dies. Each of these payments will be classed as a lifetime gift.
ANNUAL GIFT TAX EXCLUSION
For example, if a married couple has three children and five grandchildren, they may transfer $304,000 in 2025 to their descendants without touching their combined $27.98 million gift tax exemption, thus allowing them to transfer further substantial assets gift tax-free.
Bottom Line. California doesn't enforce a gift tax, but you may owe a federal one. However, you can give up to $19,000 in cash or property during the 2025 tax year and up to $18,000 in the 2024 tax year without triggering a gift tax return.
Trusts can be written for minors or for adults, with the distribution of funds outlined in the trust agreement. “A trust is a good vehicle to clearly establish your intent for your gift while also functioning as a means to reduce the size of your taxable estate for the future," said Goldman.
What Can Trigger a Gift or Estate Tax Audit? Here are some of the common factors that can lead to gift or estate tax audits: Total estate and gift value: Generally speaking, gift and estate tax returns are more likely to be audited when there are taxes owed and the size of the transaction or estate is relatively large.
Annual gift tax exclusion
The gift tax limit is $18,000 in 2024 and $19,000 in 2025. Note that this annual exclusion is per gift recipient. So, you could give away the limit to several different people in a single year and still not have to file a gift tax return and possibly pay the gift tax.
A gift letter is a formal document proving that money you have received is a gift, not a loan, and that the donor has no expectations for you to pay the money back. A gift can be broadly defined to include a sale, exchange, or other transfer of property from one person (the donor) to another (the recipient).
Arguably the biggest disadvantage is that the client has irrevocably given up their right to the property that is gifted. This can become a problem if the client needs that money down the road for their own care, or if they need to apply for a benefit program that prohibits this kind of transfer.
Use Form 709 to report: Transfers subject to the federal gift and certain generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes.
A lifetime is the entire length of time a person or other living thing is alive. After a famous actor dies, she may be fondly remembered for a lifetime of great movie roles.
Another key difference: While there is no federal inheritance tax, there is a federal estate tax. The federal estate tax generally applies to assets over $13.61 million in 2024 and $13.99 million in 2025, and the federal estate tax rate ranges from 18% to 40%.
May I deduct gifts on my income tax return? Making a gift or leaving your estate to your heirs does not ordinarily affect your federal income tax. You cannot deduct the value of gifts you make (other than gifts that are deductible charitable contributions).
Use the annual gift tax exclusion.
Each year, you can give a certain amount of property to a family member without incurring gift taxes. As of 2024, the annual gift tax exclusion is $18,000 per recipient. This means you can gradually transfer property over several years to minimize tax liabilities.
From this perspective, if you are inclined to give, you should gift as much as you can comfortably afford during your lifetime, while remaining aware of the available step-up in capital gain basis for inherited assets. So, gift your assets that have minimal gains and save your most appreciated assets for inheritance.
If you received a gift or inheritance, do not include it in your income. However, if the gift or inheritance later produces income, you will need to pay tax on that income.
Amounts that exceed these limits are treated as deprived assets for five years from the date deprivation occurs. *$1,000 exceeds the $10,000 per financial year limit and is deprived.
The primary way the IRS becomes aware of gifts is when you report them on form 709. You are required to report gifts to an individual over $17,000 on this form. This is how the IRS will generally become aware of a gift. However, form 709 is not the only way the IRS will know about a gift.
The gift giver pays any gift tax owed, not the receiver. You don't have to report gifts to the IRS unless the amount exceeds $18,000 in 2024 (increasing to $19,000 in 2025). Any gifts exceeding $18,000 in a year must be reported and contribute to your lifetime exclusion amount.
In addition, the amount is indexed for inflation. As a result, for 2024, a single taxpayer can claim a federal estate and lifetime gift tax exemption of $13.61 million. Couples making joint gifts can double that amount.
If you do make a gift over $15,000, you'll need to file tax Form 709 with the IRS. Even if you want to apply the $15,000 to your lifetime exemption, you'll need to file the form so the IRS can keep a running total of the amounts you're counting toward your lifetime exemption.
You can gift your adult child up to $18,000 in 2024 without filing a gift tax return. Filing a gift tax return doesn't necessarily mean owing gift tax unless lifetime gifts exceed $13.61 million (in 2024).