Can I give my wife any gift for any amount without have to pay taxes?

Question

I’m receiving 3 gifts this year each for the amount of $12K. So I’ll have in my bank the total of $36K. I want to give my wife a gift of $36K this year. Since this is more than $12K do I have to pay taxes on it? Thank you,

Answer 1

If you file jointly, there is no "gift."  The money is jointly owned.

Answer 2

Gifts between spouses are nontaxable events and are not reported to the IRS.  Your filing status is not relevant.

Answer 3

Gift Taxes

  

IRS Tax Tip 2008-15

If you gave any one person gifts in 2007 that are valued at more than $12,000, you must report the total gifts to the Internal Revenue Service and may have to pay tax on the gifts.  The person who receives your gift does not have to report the gift to the IRS or pay gift or income tax on its value.

Gifts include money and property, including the use of property without expecting to receive something of equal value in return. If you sell something at less than its value or make an interest-free or reduced-interest loan, you may be making a gift.

There are some exceptions to the tax rules on gifts. The following gifts generally are not taxable and do not count against the annual limit:

Tuition or Medical Expenses that you pay directly to an educational or medical institution for someone's benefit

Gifts to your Spouse

Gifts to a Political Organization for its use

Gifts to Charities

If you are married, both you and your spouse can give separate gifts of up to the annual limit of $12,000 to the same person without making a taxable gift.

Alternatively, with consent from your spouse, you can make a gift of up to $24,000 ($12,000 x 2) to the same person without making a taxable gift. This is commonly known as splitting gifts between spouses.  Essentially, it means a gift by you or your spouse to a third person can be considered as made one-half by each of you provided there is consent by both spouses.

For more information, get the IRS Publication 950, Introduction to Estate and Gift Taxes, IRS Form 709, United States Gift Tax Return, and Instructions for Form 709. They are available at the IRS Web site at IRS.gov in the Forms and Publications section or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

Links:

Publication 950, Introduction to Estate and Gift Taxes (PDF 44K)

Form 709, United States Gift (And Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return (PDF 300K)

Form 709, Instructions (PDF 79K)

Answer 4

Ninasgramma answers your question correctly.

One extra comment:  if the three gifts are from three different people, no problem.  But if the same person gave you more than one of those $12,000 gifts, that person still has to file a gift tax return - the limit is based on the total amount given by any one person to any other one person for the year, not just the amount of any one gift.