How much money can my husband and I give to someone in 2017 and not have to report it or pay taxes on it?

[homesteader]

Someone told me that my husband and I can give someone $28,000 as a gift and no one has to report it to the IRS or pay taxes on it.  I need to know if that's true or if it's just $14,000.

[Critter]

$14K per person  per year  ... so you can give $14K and your spouse can also give $14K to the same person in the same tax year.

[homesteader]

If I don't have to file anything with the IRS, how do they keep up with how much I am giving over the years?

[Critter]

If you stay below the max allowed per year then the IRS doesn't care ... it doesn't count towards your max.

[macuser_22]

Each person can give a gift of $14,000 or less to another person and not be required to file  a gift tax return (form 709).  Each spouse can give $14,000 to a person for a total of $28,000.   You do not actually pay any tax, it simply reduces your lifetime $5.4 million exclusion by that amount.

[Hal_Al]

"Gift Tax" is somewhat of a misnomer.  Even though a gift tax return may be required, very few people ever actually pay federal gift tax. The purpose of the gift tax return is usually only to document a reduction in the allowable estate tax exemption.
See <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Tax-Planning-and-Checklists/The-Gift-Tax-Made-Simple/...>