Q&A: When generosity becomes a taxing issue

Dear Liz: I recently came into some money, and I would like to share it with my family. I understand that there are annual tax caps on how much you can give to someone ($14,000 per person per year). However, does this limit apply only to cash and cash equivalents or also to any other gifts? For instance, can I pay off a sibling’s student loan for more than $14,000 without running afoul of the limits?

Answer: There’s no cap on how much money you can give to another person. But if you give more than $14,000 to any one person, you have to file a gift tax return (IRSForm 709). You won’t actually owe gift taxes until the amount you give in excess of that limit totals more than $5 million. (The precise limit this year is $5.49 million and it’s scheduled to rise by the rate of inflation in coming years.)

Paying most bills, including student loans, on behalf of another person counts as part of that $14,000 limit. The only exceptions are if you pay someone’s tuition, medical expenses and health insurance. To avoid the limit, you would have to pay the bills directly to the provider (such as the school, doctor, hospital, insurance company and so on). If you give the money to the person to pay these expenses, it counts as part of the $14,000 exemption.

Some people keep rigidly to the $14,000 limit to avoid having the excess gifts reduce their estate tax exemption. (Gifts over the $14,000 limit are added back into a person’s estate at death, and the prevailing estate tax exemption — which is also currently $5.49 million — is deducted from that enhanced total.)

If you aren’t a multimillionaire, though, this probably isn’t something you need to worry about. If you go over the $14,000 per person limit, you just have to deal with a little paperwork.