Hello! If married grandparents gifts their grandchild $31k in 2025, do they need to submit the 709 form? They file regular taxes jointly and I know the max per year is $19,000 for a single person. so I’m not sure if they would need to submit the form? Thanks for ur input! 🙂
Update: One grandparent did the transactions (it was broken into 4 different payments over the course of the year, two $800 payments, a 26,000 and 3400)
Posted by roseypenguin
4 Comments
The max is $19k per recipient, so yes, they would need to do that. What form did the gift take? Just straight cash?
Maybe. Did each grandparent give grandchild $15.5k or did one grandparent give grandchild $31k (or did they each give $31k – it’s not entirely clear from your post)?
As you can see from this thread, tax professionals love to argue for mundane stuff that makes no difference.
The IRS has never ruled on this issue. BUT Form 709 itself has a check the box election to treat any gift as of 50% was made by each spouse. It would be idiotic if the IRS took the position that while Form 709 has such an election, no such election exists if you’re less than 2*the exclusion amount.
The IRS does not even really enforce 709 filing since 99.9% of estates are less than 15/30 million.
So, yes I can say with near certainty you’re fine if you don’t file. But if you (as in the grandparents) do want to file, you can diy – it will take you 10 minutes and a postage stamp. Reply if you want instructions.
Since only one grandparent made the gifts, it’s all counted under them. The limit is $19k per person for 2025, so anything over that (about $12k here) means they’ll need to file Form 709. Doesn’t mean they owe tax, it just gets reported. If both grandparents had split the gifts, they might’ve avoided filing, but since it came from one, 709 is needed.