Hi,
Thank you for clarifying about gift splitting. My situation is slightly different. Please tell me if I am correct given the following situation:
My husband & I own a joint brokerage account held inside a California Living Trust. As grantor of the trust, I alone signed off to transfer shares of mutual fund worth $28,000 from this joint account to my daughter's individual brokerage account. Because the mutual fund is community property, I gather that my husband & I each need to file a separate gift tax return for half of the $28,000 to split gift. Please tell me if I am thinking correctly for Schedule A, Line 1:
Column D (Donor's adjusted basis of gift): $18,000
Column E (Date of gift): The date the transfer was signed by me in 2020.
Column F (Value at date of gift): $18,000
Column G (For split gifts, enter 1/2 of Column F): $9,000
Column H (Net Transfer … subtract col. G from col. F): $9,000
All three of us are U.S. Citizens; my daughter lives in California, and my husband and I now reside in Canada. I understand that we are supposed to mail both of the gift tax returns together in the same envelop.
I am wondering if the donor's adjusted cost basis in Column D is referring to the original cost when I purchased the shares many years ago, or is $18,000 correct the way it is as shown above.
Also, the form 709 is for 2019. Do I have to download a new one that is for 2020? And what proof documents do I need to include with the gift tax returns.
Please advise. Thanks very much in advance. kk
