Avoiding estate tax by giving multiple gifts












7















From my understanding in the US, a father can give an individual gift of $15,000 to a child (or anyone) without any tax liabilities and without impacting the lifetime allowance. If the father wants to give more money, can he make a gift to a third party he trusts (e.g., his brother/uncle of his son) who then makes a gift to the child, or is that tax fraud?










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  • 6





    The rule of thumb on questions like this is, if you thought of this clever trick, there's good odds that someone else has already thought of it, and that it's been brought to the attention of the IRS at some point, and they are aware of it and know how to deal with people trying to be clever by doing this thing to screw them out of their tax revenue.

    – Mason Wheeler
    7 hours ago











  • Precisely, @MasonWheeler .

    – Fattie
    6 hours ago
















7















From my understanding in the US, a father can give an individual gift of $15,000 to a child (or anyone) without any tax liabilities and without impacting the lifetime allowance. If the father wants to give more money, can he make a gift to a third party he trusts (e.g., his brother/uncle of his son) who then makes a gift to the child, or is that tax fraud?










share|improve this question


















  • 6





    The rule of thumb on questions like this is, if you thought of this clever trick, there's good odds that someone else has already thought of it, and that it's been brought to the attention of the IRS at some point, and they are aware of it and know how to deal with people trying to be clever by doing this thing to screw them out of their tax revenue.

    – Mason Wheeler
    7 hours ago











  • Precisely, @MasonWheeler .

    – Fattie
    6 hours ago














7












7








7


2






From my understanding in the US, a father can give an individual gift of $15,000 to a child (or anyone) without any tax liabilities and without impacting the lifetime allowance. If the father wants to give more money, can he make a gift to a third party he trusts (e.g., his brother/uncle of his son) who then makes a gift to the child, or is that tax fraud?










share|improve this question














From my understanding in the US, a father can give an individual gift of $15,000 to a child (or anyone) without any tax liabilities and without impacting the lifetime allowance. If the father wants to give more money, can he make a gift to a third party he trusts (e.g., his brother/uncle of his son) who then makes a gift to the child, or is that tax fraud?







united-states gift-tax estate-planning






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asked 9 hours ago









StrongBadStrongBad

720516




720516








  • 6





    The rule of thumb on questions like this is, if you thought of this clever trick, there's good odds that someone else has already thought of it, and that it's been brought to the attention of the IRS at some point, and they are aware of it and know how to deal with people trying to be clever by doing this thing to screw them out of their tax revenue.

    – Mason Wheeler
    7 hours ago











  • Precisely, @MasonWheeler .

    – Fattie
    6 hours ago














  • 6





    The rule of thumb on questions like this is, if you thought of this clever trick, there's good odds that someone else has already thought of it, and that it's been brought to the attention of the IRS at some point, and they are aware of it and know how to deal with people trying to be clever by doing this thing to screw them out of their tax revenue.

    – Mason Wheeler
    7 hours ago











  • Precisely, @MasonWheeler .

    – Fattie
    6 hours ago








6




6





The rule of thumb on questions like this is, if you thought of this clever trick, there's good odds that someone else has already thought of it, and that it's been brought to the attention of the IRS at some point, and they are aware of it and know how to deal with people trying to be clever by doing this thing to screw them out of their tax revenue.

– Mason Wheeler
7 hours ago





The rule of thumb on questions like this is, if you thought of this clever trick, there's good odds that someone else has already thought of it, and that it's been brought to the attention of the IRS at some point, and they are aware of it and know how to deal with people trying to be clever by doing this thing to screw them out of their tax revenue.

– Mason Wheeler
7 hours ago













Precisely, @MasonWheeler .

– Fattie
6 hours ago





Precisely, @MasonWheeler .

– Fattie
6 hours ago










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















17














If you give a gift with stings attached, then it isn't a gift. Thus it would be viewed as trying to get around the tax law. The law regarding this is the Step Transaction Doctrine.



But a spouse can also give a gift, and you can give a gift to your child's spouse. Thus a couple can give another couple 4x the limit each year.



If the child is in school then the giver can pay tuition directly and not worry about the limit. They can't send it to the student, they have to send it to the school.



Of course exceeding the limit in a year, does require paperwork, but the lifetime allowance is $11.4M as of 2019. Current tax law has this number adjust for inflation. If this is is something to worry about, consult a tax attorney to see how to do this legally.






share|improve this answer





















  • 4





    Nice. The first sentence is key to so many gift questions...

    – TTT
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    There were a couple things I'd have posted, but 2 minor points don't make a full answer. If my edits are unwelcome, you can roll back. I won't take offense.

    – JoeTaxpayer
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    @JoeTaxpayer the step transaction stuff is perfect.

    – StrongBad
    8 hours ago






  • 2





    The first sentence isn't categorically true; in particular, it's routine for charitable gifts to come with instructions on how they must be used (particular scholarships, particular sorts of needy recipients, etc.).

    – chrylis
    4 hours ago










protected by JoeTaxpayer 7 hours ago



Thank you for your interest in this question.
Because it has attracted low-quality or spam answers that had to be removed, posting an answer now requires 10 reputation on this site (the association bonus does not count).



Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead?














1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes








1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









17














If you give a gift with stings attached, then it isn't a gift. Thus it would be viewed as trying to get around the tax law. The law regarding this is the Step Transaction Doctrine.



But a spouse can also give a gift, and you can give a gift to your child's spouse. Thus a couple can give another couple 4x the limit each year.



If the child is in school then the giver can pay tuition directly and not worry about the limit. They can't send it to the student, they have to send it to the school.



Of course exceeding the limit in a year, does require paperwork, but the lifetime allowance is $11.4M as of 2019. Current tax law has this number adjust for inflation. If this is is something to worry about, consult a tax attorney to see how to do this legally.






share|improve this answer





















  • 4





    Nice. The first sentence is key to so many gift questions...

    – TTT
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    There were a couple things I'd have posted, but 2 minor points don't make a full answer. If my edits are unwelcome, you can roll back. I won't take offense.

    – JoeTaxpayer
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    @JoeTaxpayer the step transaction stuff is perfect.

    – StrongBad
    8 hours ago






  • 2





    The first sentence isn't categorically true; in particular, it's routine for charitable gifts to come with instructions on how they must be used (particular scholarships, particular sorts of needy recipients, etc.).

    – chrylis
    4 hours ago
















17














If you give a gift with stings attached, then it isn't a gift. Thus it would be viewed as trying to get around the tax law. The law regarding this is the Step Transaction Doctrine.



But a spouse can also give a gift, and you can give a gift to your child's spouse. Thus a couple can give another couple 4x the limit each year.



If the child is in school then the giver can pay tuition directly and not worry about the limit. They can't send it to the student, they have to send it to the school.



Of course exceeding the limit in a year, does require paperwork, but the lifetime allowance is $11.4M as of 2019. Current tax law has this number adjust for inflation. If this is is something to worry about, consult a tax attorney to see how to do this legally.






share|improve this answer





















  • 4





    Nice. The first sentence is key to so many gift questions...

    – TTT
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    There were a couple things I'd have posted, but 2 minor points don't make a full answer. If my edits are unwelcome, you can roll back. I won't take offense.

    – JoeTaxpayer
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    @JoeTaxpayer the step transaction stuff is perfect.

    – StrongBad
    8 hours ago






  • 2





    The first sentence isn't categorically true; in particular, it's routine for charitable gifts to come with instructions on how they must be used (particular scholarships, particular sorts of needy recipients, etc.).

    – chrylis
    4 hours ago














17












17








17







If you give a gift with stings attached, then it isn't a gift. Thus it would be viewed as trying to get around the tax law. The law regarding this is the Step Transaction Doctrine.



But a spouse can also give a gift, and you can give a gift to your child's spouse. Thus a couple can give another couple 4x the limit each year.



If the child is in school then the giver can pay tuition directly and not worry about the limit. They can't send it to the student, they have to send it to the school.



Of course exceeding the limit in a year, does require paperwork, but the lifetime allowance is $11.4M as of 2019. Current tax law has this number adjust for inflation. If this is is something to worry about, consult a tax attorney to see how to do this legally.






share|improve this answer















If you give a gift with stings attached, then it isn't a gift. Thus it would be viewed as trying to get around the tax law. The law regarding this is the Step Transaction Doctrine.



But a spouse can also give a gift, and you can give a gift to your child's spouse. Thus a couple can give another couple 4x the limit each year.



If the child is in school then the giver can pay tuition directly and not worry about the limit. They can't send it to the student, they have to send it to the school.



Of course exceeding the limit in a year, does require paperwork, but the lifetime allowance is $11.4M as of 2019. Current tax law has this number adjust for inflation. If this is is something to worry about, consult a tax attorney to see how to do this legally.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 8 hours ago









JoeTaxpayer

146k23236473




146k23236473










answered 9 hours ago









mhoran_psprepmhoran_psprep

69.4k896175




69.4k896175








  • 4





    Nice. The first sentence is key to so many gift questions...

    – TTT
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    There were a couple things I'd have posted, but 2 minor points don't make a full answer. If my edits are unwelcome, you can roll back. I won't take offense.

    – JoeTaxpayer
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    @JoeTaxpayer the step transaction stuff is perfect.

    – StrongBad
    8 hours ago






  • 2





    The first sentence isn't categorically true; in particular, it's routine for charitable gifts to come with instructions on how they must be used (particular scholarships, particular sorts of needy recipients, etc.).

    – chrylis
    4 hours ago














  • 4





    Nice. The first sentence is key to so many gift questions...

    – TTT
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    There were a couple things I'd have posted, but 2 minor points don't make a full answer. If my edits are unwelcome, you can roll back. I won't take offense.

    – JoeTaxpayer
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    @JoeTaxpayer the step transaction stuff is perfect.

    – StrongBad
    8 hours ago






  • 2





    The first sentence isn't categorically true; in particular, it's routine for charitable gifts to come with instructions on how they must be used (particular scholarships, particular sorts of needy recipients, etc.).

    – chrylis
    4 hours ago








4




4





Nice. The first sentence is key to so many gift questions...

– TTT
8 hours ago





Nice. The first sentence is key to so many gift questions...

– TTT
8 hours ago




1




1





There were a couple things I'd have posted, but 2 minor points don't make a full answer. If my edits are unwelcome, you can roll back. I won't take offense.

– JoeTaxpayer
8 hours ago





There were a couple things I'd have posted, but 2 minor points don't make a full answer. If my edits are unwelcome, you can roll back. I won't take offense.

– JoeTaxpayer
8 hours ago




1




1





@JoeTaxpayer the step transaction stuff is perfect.

– StrongBad
8 hours ago





@JoeTaxpayer the step transaction stuff is perfect.

– StrongBad
8 hours ago




2




2





The first sentence isn't categorically true; in particular, it's routine for charitable gifts to come with instructions on how they must be used (particular scholarships, particular sorts of needy recipients, etc.).

– chrylis
4 hours ago





The first sentence isn't categorically true; in particular, it's routine for charitable gifts to come with instructions on how they must be used (particular scholarships, particular sorts of needy recipients, etc.).

– chrylis
4 hours ago





protected by JoeTaxpayer 7 hours ago



Thank you for your interest in this question.
Because it has attracted low-quality or spam answers that had to be removed, posting an answer now requires 10 reputation on this site (the association bonus does not count).



Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead?



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