How to declare money giving to buy house / Gift Tax ?'s

[TaoWanderer]

They said to post this here instead of under Wills and trust

What is the name of your state? I live in NV

A very good friend, that lives in OR, who trusts me completely put a check for $140,000 in my Bank account because I am good at finding good deals on real estate and I was to buy a house in which we were both going to live and both of our names would be on the deed. I found the right house and went though the whole process, but the deal fell though and I am still looking for another house. My friend got the money from their mom, who lives in CA, who gave it to them, but is charging them 5% as a loan, supposedly to avoid the gift tax because she thinks you can only give $11,000 a year without paying the gift tax. Is this correct?

A friend mentioned unconditional gifts and conditional gifts. Said if you give money free and clear, it is taxable and if you give money that has conditions attached to it (i.e. buying a house for the both of us) then it isn't taxable. Is this correct? If so, should I declare it as a conditional gift and should / can her mom do the same? Is there a limit in dollar amount for conditional gifts? I have read people on this forum talk about a million dollar lifetime limit for gifts, is that a limit as well as the $11,000/year? Do my friend, their mom, I or all of us have to declare it and who would pay the gift tax if there is one to be payed?

[abezon]

Gifts are not taxable to the recipient. The donor can gift up to $11,000/year without having to file a gift tax return. Once the donor gives over $11,000 in a year, s/he has to file a gift tax return, but doesn't pay any gift tax until the lifetime reported gifts exceed $1.3M. Instead, the gift reduces the eventual estate tax credit when the donor dies.

If mom has $140,000 to give away, she can certainly afford to go see an estate tax attorney/planner & set up a gifting plan. In the mean time, you don't really care, since her gift is not taxable to you.