Filing multiple copies of Form 709 for prior tax years

[tomandjerry1]

I've been somewhat lax about filing form 709 for gifts to my children in prior years and would like to correct that situation starting with 2024 since one of this year's gifts is fairly large ($200K).  There have been prior years where the gifts were much smaller but still over the per-donee exclusion for that year.  This tended to surface once I was no longer married (since the exclusion became half of what it had been).   Form 709 asks if I've filed Form 709 for any other years and, if so, to complete Section B, "Gifts From Prior Periods".  My question is how best to proceed to rectify this.  One thought is to complete a set of prior year forms (starting from the year I first exceeded the exclusion) and then including the prior gifts on each subsequent year's Form 709 until I reach this year's, and then to send the complete sequence in one mailing to the applicable IRS office.  Does this sound like a bad idea?  If I were to indicate "yes" to the "Have you previously filed a Form 709 for any other year" question will the IRS attempt to locate the prior year's forms?  The information to be entered in Section B does a pretty thorough job of encapsulating what would have been reported on each year's Form 709.  What is the significance of the IRS having actually received and recorded Form 709 for these prior years?  If instead I just send this year's with no prior year's indicated, and then send these prior years later, would I then need to re-file an amended Form 709 for 2024?  I assume this must be a pretty common situation for many taxpayers, so I'm surprised Google has failed to locate much discussion of this. 

[MinhT1 · Accepted solution]

You should start with the earliest year so that that each later year has a record of past years in Section B. 

There is no tax to pay if you do not exceed the lifetime exclusion, but the IRS may impose late filing penalties.

[tomandjerry1]

Thanks.  There wouldn't be that many prior years and I do plan complete them in chronological order so each subsequent year's form has the applicable information for the prior years.  The only remaining concern is whether my plan to send the entire sequence in one mailing to the IRS is allowed?  But that seems to be the only sensible solution to making sure they are processed in chronological order.

[CatinaT1 · Accepted solution]

It should be fine to mail them all together.