Hello,
My parents want to gift me $20,000. I am married and so I understand they can gift up to $38,000 tax free. Can my parents write me a check for $20,000 and I deposit it in my individual account? My husband and I do not have a joint account, will this be an issue?
Edit: I misunderstood the gift exemption. Thank you guys for clarifying. I guess the question I have is do my parents need to file a 709 form?
Thank you!
Posted by heythere010203
16 Comments
Im not professional but I was just in a recent situation. It shouldn’t be an issue. However, it is up to the gifter to report the gift and any potential tax implication falls on them, not the giftee. So its really not your concern. If they want to gift money, id say take it and let them handle it how they want to
Its also close to the end of the year. If this isnt an urgent need, they could gift you 19k now and 1k on 01jan
They are allowed to gift up to that amount because they are married. Has nothing to do with you. If they write the check with just your name on it, then it doesn’t need to be a joint account.
Bro there’s like a multi million dollar limit before you actually have to start paying taxes on a gift. The # you quote is the reporting requirement. Do 5 mins of due diligence
That will work fine. They can give up to $38k tax free as a couple to you. It doesn’t have to go to you and your spouse.
that is fine, no tax implications. Your parents can split the gift.
If my parents were willing to give me $20,000 I would put it in a safe, not in the bank.
>I am married and so I understand they can gift up to $38,000 tax free.
I think there is some misunderstanding here. If you have two parents, each parent can give you $19,000 in gifts without having to file any tax paperwork. That’s $38,000 right there. If they want to give a gift to your husband, that’s another $38,000.
Or if only one parent wants to give a gift, they can give you $19,000 now and another $1000 in January.
This is all to avoid having to file any gift tax returns. They don’t have to pay any gift taxes until they have given over $13 million in lifetime gifts.
You understand incorrectly. They can gift you millions of dollars without any taxes being charged. They just have to file a form 709 if they give you more than $19k each. With $20k they can give you $10k each and not have to worry about even filing the form.
It’s technically $76,000. Each parent to each you and your husband if they really wanted to. There still likely wouldn’t be tax implications since that’s just the amount where they report is and then use up part of their $13 million each lifetime estate and gift exemption amount. So definitely no worries over $20K, unless they’ve already gifted you all $56K previously in the year or will before December.
They would need to gift you $19,000 and your spouse $1,000 to avoid filing a gift tax return. Gifts are treated individually
Gift splitting applies to the donor, not the donee. And it still requires a gift tax return to be filed to take the election
Your spouse can Zelle you the $1,000 as soon as he receives it without consequence
A gift is not income.
Yes, they can just write you a check. The bank may opt to hold the funds until the check clears.
Though technically they are limited to $19,000 per person/year, $38,000 per couple, the fact that your husbands name is not on the check will not cause an issue. If they make it out to both of you, the fact that his name is not on the account may cause problems depositing the check. I suppose if they want to be exact, they can gift you $19K separately, and $1K to him.
No issue when it’s under the annual gifting exemption (they’d be responsible for reporting and filing a gift tax return, not the recipient) and it’s cash, even easier. It can be deposited into any account
No issue. You should deposit it into your SEPARATE bank account and keep it separate. I don’t know what state you’re in, but gifts and inheritances are usually separate property unless you commingle them with community property.
Do you know what lots of people do? They have a family safety deposit box.
Or… a family trust as it makes these types of discussions moot.
You don’t need to do the spouse thing, but best to write two checks for clean paper trail to stay under the exclusion limit.
One comes from mom, other from dad, both to you individually.
If they have a joint account and same checkbook write clear memo and individually sign their respective check.
This doesn’t take much effort.