John Burns
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Show Me the Money: 2018 Gift Tax Exclusion Increased

Mar 21, 2018

As a result of the recent tax act, Congress effectively doubled the gift and estate tax exemptions.  In carrying out that law, the IRS recently increased the gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions to $11,180,000 per person.  That means that an individual with sufficient assets can either gift during his lifetime or pass to his beneficiaries upon death up to $11,180,000 in assets free of federal estate tax.  By extension, a married couple can double that and give or bequeath nearly $24.4 million in assets free from federal gift and estate tax.  In addition, the IRS also increased the annual gift tax exclusion for 2018 to $15,000 per donee, up from $14,000 where it had been for the past five years.