receiving gift

[Fatima]

My husband will soon receive a gift of $50,000 from his mom - who's also receiving an even larger gift from a friend. We've researched and so far found that you can gift money to a spouse to avoid gift tax but it's still confusing (haven't found anything on receiving gifts). Since this is initially a gift to him, is it necessary to transfer the money to me? If he keeps it, is he or his mom responsible for the tax? And, do we have to place the amount on our joint tax return?

 

[aelisar]

Gifts up to $10, 000 are allowed per person per year tax free. So you and your husband would need to each get that amount transferred in your own names. Anything above that is subject to gift tax. But since it is the end of the year, you could do 10 each this year and 10 each in January 2001 if you can wait a few months. To find out about gift tax forms go to the IRS web page which you'll find thru any search engine

 

[ALawyer]

Gifts are NOT taxable to the recipient and are never INCOME. And while a gift of more than $10,000 per person per year must be reported to the IRS, the excess over $10k is charged against the donor's lifetime exemption, now $675k and rising, and may not involve any tax.

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