Federal Gift Tax Limit for 2011, 2012

If you give away a lot of money, then you could be responsible for paying federal gift tax. Currently you can give away around $13,000.00 to any amount of people without having to pay federal gift tax.You also have a one million dollar lifetime limit on gifts.

If you plan on giving away more than that, then you may want to do some pre-planning so neither you nor the recipients of your gifts owe taxes on them. The gift tax limit was created to make it more difficult for taxpayers to avoid paying estate tax.

Here are some helpful tips when giving away large amounts of money or assets:

• You and your spouse can give away up to $26,000.00 annually to any number of people.

• You have a lifetime limit of $1,000,000.00 to give away tax free.

• The gift cannot have any exclusions and is money or property given away without an expected return.

• If you must claim the federal gift tax on your gifts, then you must file using Form 709.

• Giving away property or money before your death can provide a huge tax savings to your friends and family.

• If you pay someone else’s medical expenses, then you must pay them directly to the care provided for them to be considered a gift.

It is also important to know that gifts of educational expenses will not be taxed under the federal gift tax rules. This includes payments directly made for education, books, supplies, and other related living expenses. Charitable gifts and gifts to your spouse are also not taxed.

Gift Tax Limit 2011

You can research the Federal Gift Tax Limits by combing through the web site of the IRS or you can go to TurboTax Online and click on the support tab to reach the award winning library of tax information. Just enter the words, federal gift tax limit in the search box and you will have instant answers to your gift tax questions if they were not already answered here.

To find out if you owe federal gift tax, visit TurboTax Online today!