Gifts
Call us at
(800) 318-7848
You can give anyone a tax-free gift of cash or other property valued at up to $11,000 each year. While such gifts don't reduce your annual income tax liability, you pay no gift tax when the gift is made and neither does the recipient. If your spouse joins in the gift, together you can give each person up to $22,000, even if the gift comes only from funds or property you own individually.
With charitable gifts, you can take a tax deduction for the value of the property you give. In most cases, it makes sense to contribute assets that have increased in value since you bought them. Doing so, in most cases, lets you deduct the current value of the property and avoid capital gains on its increase in value.
Gifts made to revocable trusts don't result in gift taxes because the transfer of property is considered incomplete since you can change your mind about what's in the trust and who benefits. If the trust is irrevocable, gift taxes may be due if the beneficiary is anyone besides you or your spouse.
You also can pass valuable property to your children and grandchildren by establishing a family limited partnership. You serve as the general partner and maintain control over the assets in the partnership (usually real estate or a family business). The junior members of the family are limited partners with no current authority, but they own a growing share of the partnership assets.
