Skip to main content

Annual Gift Tax Exclusion Rises to $13,000

The annual gift tax exclusion will increase from $12,000 to $13,000 effective January 1, 2009, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) just announced. The gift tax exclusion is the amount the IRS allows a taxpayer to gift to another individual without reporting the gift. This is not a limit on giving, it is a tax filing threshold. You are always free to give more than the threshold, but then you must file a gift-tax return. The life-time exclusion amount of $1 million means that most people won't ever have to pay gift tax - only those making total lifetime gifts above that amount will owe any tax.

The increase in the yearly exclusion amount means that more can be given away for estate tax planning purposes in any one year. For example, a married couple with four children will be able to give away up to $104,000 in 2009 with no gift tax implications. You don't have to give to just children though, you can give to anyone that you would want to benefit, including relatives and friends.

The tax code permits the yearly gift tax exclusion, which has been $12,000 since 2006, to rise when inflation would produce an increase of $1,000 or more. This year's inflation figures pushed the amount above the next $1,000 threshold.

Always consult your professional advisors before deciding on making gifts and taking other tax planning measures.

For more on this and other inflation-adjusted tax figures for 2009, go to: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=187825,00.html

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Knee Surgery OK for Octogenarians

Knee replacement surgery can improve the quality of life even for very elderly patients, according to a study presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) . The study found that patients in their 80s can benefit both physically and socially from knee replacement surgery, also called total knee arthroplasty (TKA), once thought too risky for the very elderly. “As patients are living longer, there is an upward trend in the demand for quality of life among the elderly population,” said Edsel Arandia, M.D., lead author of the study and an orthopaedic surgeon at Philippine Orthopaedic Center and a Fellow at Singapore General Hospital. “As patients age, debilitating diseases like arthritis of the knee begin to develop. We conducted this study to determine the viability of TKA in octogenarians and to learn whether their quality of life improves after TKA.” Dr. Arandia and his team reviewed data from 128 patients older than 80 years of age wh...
Post a Comment
Read more

Clifton B. Kruse, Jr., Leading Elder Law Attorney, Dies at 74

Clifton B. Kruse , Jr., a revered elder law attorney who was admired as much for his kindness and generosity to fellow practitioners as for his grasp of the law, died December 30, 2008, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was 74. The cause was complications from Alzheimer's disease. For many in the field, Kruse set the standard for all that an elder law attorney can and should be. One of elder law's founding fathers, he combined a gentlemanly charm, warmth and caring with one of the sharpest and most ethical of legal minds. Wrote Arizona elder law attorney Robert Fleming in a tribute , "In my third of a century of elder law practice I have never met another lawyer who managed to pull together sophistication, heartfelt empathy, intellectual rigor and courtly manner in the same fashion Clifton Kruse projected. He did it, to all appearances, effortlessly. He was a friend and mentor to many in the elder law community (I count myself among those legions)." Kruse was the e...
1 comment
Read more

Dennis G. Browning Obituary

Dennis G. Browning , 59, of Tyngsboro, MA, passed away on March 19, 2012 at the Haverhill Hospice House after a courageous battle with cancer. He was the beloved husband of the late Michele L. (Orme) Browning. Born in Waltham, MA, January 3, 1959, a son of Charles L. and Herta M. (Kreuzer) Browning of Tyngsboro. He received his early education in Greece, and was a graduate of Tyngsboro High School with the Class of 1972. For many years, Mr. Browning progressed in a distinguished career as a technical lead at Centronics of Hudson, NH, before working as a landscaper, and most recently, as the property manager at his place of residence. He was also an assistant at the Adamsky Law Offices where he provided various services including Witness to Will signings. He was highly respected for his incredible work ethic. Dennis was a longtime, active member of the Tyngsboro Sportsmen's Club where he spent most of his time ensuring the club, its members, and especially the trout pond, were a...
Post a Comment
Read more