Do you have big heart and want to generously share your wealth? With large sums of money, you may be wondering just what kind of taxes a financial gift may ultimately cost. How does a financial gift get taxed and how does that play into your overall estate?

In this episode of the Cover Your Assets KC podcast, David talks through some of the specifics as well as some of the myths when it comes to the gift tax as well as the estate tax. When it comes to an estate tax, most people don’t have $22 million for their heirs to inherit, which means that most people don’t have an estate tax problem. More often, people are worried about the gift tax and what that entails.

You can give $15,000 away each year to any individual (or even $15,000 to multiple individuals) that you don’t need to report to the government. This is called the annual gift tax. If you give higher than $15,000 to an individual, you have to file form 709 with the IRS, but you don’t owe any taxes on that gift. That means, when you die, the amount extra that you gave away will then be included in the estate tax.

Outside of the gift tax or estate tax, things like tuition or medical bills can be paid for directly and not taxed. For example, Ken Langone, one of the founders of Home Depot, paid the tuition for the medical school students of NYU. It’s a way to make a significant impact and also lessen the estate and estate tax later on. There is no annual limit on how much you contribute to tuition or medical bills.

Giving money away might be easier than you thought, allowing you to give generously now instead of waiting until after you pass away.

Listen to the full episode or click the timestamps below to hear more about a specific segment.

[1:31] – Debunking the estate tax problem.

[4:35] – What gift amount creates a taxable amount?

[7:26] – How does a gift now impact your estate tax later?

[9:13] – Does anything with the gift tax change when contributing to a 529, say for grandkids?

[11:39] – Two gifts that avoid the gift tax and do some good.