@TomD8 That's where I get confused. IE - Why does the IRS say that if I give one single person a one time gift of $26,000 today, I'm responsible for filling out and submitting Form 709 AND I'm responsible for paying gift taxes on it. But then they turn around and say well actually, the lifetime limit is $11.7 million. Why not just say, if you give a one time gift over $15,000 you need to report it to the IRS but you won't be responsible for any taxes on that gift unless you give away more than $11.7 million in your lifetime? Am I interpreting that incorrectly?
