SecondCor521
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Hi all.
I know about the annual gift tax exclusion amount and how that works.
I've read the definition on the IRS site about what constitutes a gift.
I have questions.
Suppose I take my kid out to lunch or dinner and pay the check. Technically it would appear that the $20 for his hamburger and fries would count towards the $15K exemption. I'm betting nobody bothers with that level of accounting / transparency / fidelity to IRS statute.
Suppose I take my kid on a vacation and pay for flights and hotels. Same story here I bet. Nobody (or nearly nobody) is tracking that.
What if I take all three of my kids on a Caribbean cruise, and that's like $9K attributable to their cabins / food / flights / port taxes, etc. Does any taxpayer you know keep track of that?
Over a period of a decade or two, the difference between gifting $15K via check to three kids vs. gifting a $15K check to three kids *and* taking them on a cruise or two per year adds up to a lot of money.
Questions:
1. Is my understanding correct that "in kind" gifts to kids would count towards the $15K annual gift tax exemption amount?
2. At what level do you or people you know keep track of this sort of stuff? Do you only gift $14,980 plus a hamburger? $12,000 plus a cruise?
I know about the annual gift tax exclusion amount and how that works.
I've read the definition on the IRS site about what constitutes a gift.
I have questions.
Suppose I take my kid out to lunch or dinner and pay the check. Technically it would appear that the $20 for his hamburger and fries would count towards the $15K exemption. I'm betting nobody bothers with that level of accounting / transparency / fidelity to IRS statute.
Suppose I take my kid on a vacation and pay for flights and hotels. Same story here I bet. Nobody (or nearly nobody) is tracking that.
What if I take all three of my kids on a Caribbean cruise, and that's like $9K attributable to their cabins / food / flights / port taxes, etc. Does any taxpayer you know keep track of that?
Over a period of a decade or two, the difference between gifting $15K via check to three kids vs. gifting a $15K check to three kids *and* taking them on a cruise or two per year adds up to a lot of money.
Questions:
1. Is my understanding correct that "in kind" gifts to kids would count towards the $15K annual gift tax exemption amount?
2. At what level do you or people you know keep track of this sort of stuff? Do you only gift $14,980 plus a hamburger? $12,000 plus a cruise?