Gifting Strategies for Estate Planning
The federal government imposes a substantial tax on gifts of money or property that exceed certain levels. Without such a tax, someone with a sizable estate could give away a large portion of his or her property before death and escape death taxes altogether. For this reason, the gift tax acts more or less as a backstop to the estate tax. And yet, few people actually pay a gift tax during their lifetime. A gift program can substantially reduce overall transfer taxes; however, it requires good planning and a commitment to proceed with the gifts.
Advantages of Gift Giving
You may have many reasons for making gifts — for some gift giving has personal motives, for others, tax planning is what motivated them. Most often, you will want your gift-giving program to accomplish both personal and tax motives. A few reasons for considering a gift-giving plan include:
Assisting someone in immediate financial need
Providing financial security for the recipient
Giving the recipient experience in handling money
Seeing the recipient enjoy the property
Taking advantage of annual exclusion allowance
Paying gift tax now to reduce overall taxes later
Giving tax advantaged gifts to minors