If you pay your child's tuition, and you pay it directly to the school, there is no need for any gift tax reporting. The school must be a qualifying educational institution.
This exclusion applies to tuition only. Gifts for any other purpose, such as room and board, must be reported if the amount exceeds $15000.
Also, the lifetime gift tax exclusion is now $11.4 million. That means you don't actually have to pay a gift tax until your lifetime gifts exceed that total. But you have to report gifts to an individual that exceed $15000.
Finally, gifts to an individual are not deductible by you, nor are they taxable to the recipient.
**Answers are correct to the best of my ability but do not constitute tax or legal advice.
