taxes on multiple gifts

The person who receives a gift, or multiple gifts, does not have to report it as income or pay tax on it, no matter what the amount is. The rules that you are thinking of apply to the giver, not the recipient. If someone gives more than $12,000 (the amount was increased recently) to any one person, then the giver must file a gift tax return and may owe gift tax. Bob Sandler

First, the exclusion from gift tax is now $12,000. But it is important for you to understand that the person receiving the gift does not claim any gifts on their tax return. It is the donor that is primarily responsible for the tax and who must file a gift tax return for gifts over $12,000. If the donor is married and their spouse agrees, then the exclusion would be $24,000. If you are married, each of you could be given $24,000 from a married donor without trigger a filing requirement..

No the recipient is not that one that would pay tax anyway, gift tax is on the giver if it applies

You're confusing income tax with gift tax.

Gifts are never subject to income tax. Someone can give away as much money or property as he wants, and (assuming it's really a gift) the recipient recognizes no taxable income at all, no matter how much it is. As for gift tax, anyone can give away (now) $12,000 (each) to any person and no gift tax is incurred and no gift tax return is required by the giver. If any gift or gifts from any one individual to another exceeds $12,000 in any one year, a gift tax return is required to be filed. Each person has a $1,000,000 gift tax exemption. So no gift tax is actually paid until gifts required to be reported exceed that amount. If any gift tax returns are ever required to be filed (with the possible exception of joint gifts of up to twice the exempt amount by husbands and wives), those gifts also reduce the estate tax exclusion each person has, which could increase estate taxes when he dies.

Gifts from multiple sources are not aggregated. But separate gifts from the same person in a single year are. Stu

Gifts, of any amount, are always tax free to the recipient. The GIVER has to file a Gift Tax return (not an income tax return) if the gift (to any recipient) exceeds $12,000 in a given year.

The recipient NEVER pays tax on a gift, or gifts, received, unless the gift is resold for more than the gift amount.

Gifts of any amount from any source are not taxable income to the recipient. See IRS Publication 525. Gift tax (not income tax) is the responsibility of the donor, not the recipient.

-- Phil Marti Clarksburg, MD

First of all, you are talking about gift tax, not income tax. Second, I believe the amount of the annual gift tax exclusion is $12,000 this year. If total gifts for the year are $12,000 or more, you need to file a gift tax return. That doesn't necessariliy mean that you pay any gift tax. You do reduce your estate tax exclusion by the amount of taxable gifts. ___________________________________

-----> real address on hobokeni or hobokenx

First of all, you are talking about gift tax, not income tax. Second, I believe the amount of the annual gift tax exclusion is $12,000 this year. If total gifts for the year are $12,000 or more, you need to file a gift tax return. That doesn't necessariliy mean that you pay any gift tax. You do reduce your estate tax exclusion by the amount of taxable gifts. ___________________________________

-----> real address on hobokeni or hobokenx

The number is $12000. And you may give any number of people that amount with no tax consequences. Likewise, you may receive this amount from any number of people. (If a gift is over $12000, it's the giver who would have a tax issue, not the recipient) JOE

wrote

Well, you understand wrong. You can receive any amount of gift without having to report it as income - for cash gifts, it'll never ~be~ income to you. Different rules apply when you receive tangible gifts, like of stock, collectibles, etc.

See above.

-- Paul A. Thomas, CPA Athens, Georgia

Any number of people may give you gifts, far in excess of $12,000, and you would not be reporting those gifts on YOUR tax return. Gifts, if they ever become taxable, are subject to tax on the giver. Those who exceed the annual amount allowable for making gifts must file a gift tax return.

The *receiver* of a gift never claims it, as income or otherwise. Bill Gates could give me $10,000,000,000 and I wouldn't have to report it or pay a penny of tax on it. It is the *giver* that has to report the gifts.

The giver has to report the amount in excess of *$12,000* given to any individual in a calendar year. In other words, the giver could give $11,000 each to five hundred different people in a year and not have to report anything. Likewise, if he gave $30,000 to one person, he'd have to report an $18,000 taxable gift. If he gave $20,000 to one person and $15,000 to another, he'd have to report $8,000 + $3,000 $11,000 of taxable gifts. The $12,000 per recipient per year exemption only applies to gifts of a present interest. Gifts of a future interest are reportable no matter how small they are.

-- Rich Carreiro snipped-for-privacy@animato.info

The limit is now $12,000 per doner per donee. There is no tax by the donee regardless of the size of the gift. The donor has to file a gift tax rturn if he gifts more than $12,000/d/d but there is no actual tax unless the large gifts are deducted from his estate tax exemption and his total estate exceeds the exemption mount when he dies. ed

The recipient doesn't pay gift taxes. Some donors do.

The limit is per person, independent of what anyone else gives. Seth

You are confusing gift taxes and income taxes.

Gifts of any amount are not income to the recipient. So it doesn't matter how much you receive in a year nor from whom you receive it. You don't report the amounts received by you as gifts on your income tax return and you don't pay income taxes on the gifts. There is a gift tax, which is the responsibility of the person making the gift, not the person receiving the gift. Each person may make gifts of up to $12,000 (increased from $11,000) to as many different people as he or she wants each year. There is no requirement that the recipient of the gift is related to the donor nor is there any limit on the number of these gifts. (There are some technical exceptions to all this, but they aren't relevant to your question.) If the donor makes a gift of more than $12,000 (which actually can increase to $24,000 if the donor is married) the donor must report the gifts in excess of $12,000/$24,000 to the IRS but does not have to pay any gift taxes until the total amount of such excess gifts exceeds $1 million per donor. Hope this helps.

The recipient of the gift does not report it as it is not taxable income no matter how large the gift. Gift tax is paid by the person who gives the gift, should the gift be larger than 12,000 (not 11,000) in a single year. Ira Smilovitz

Not quite NEVER. For instance, a very large gift (several million $), then the donor dies insolvent without having paid the gift tax. Seth

OK, recipient never pays INCOME tax on a gift.

-- ArtKamlet at a o l dot c o m Columbus OH K2PZH

And then only if the donor's estate is insufficient to pay the tax. Stu