My mother is wanting to gift money to me, my spouse, and 3 children. I know she can give 15,000 without penalty. Can this all be deposited into one account?

[Opus 17]

Yes.  The amount is $14,000 per person per year, and she can gift up to $14,000 to you, your spouse, and each child, without having to report it.

If she gifts more, the money is never taxable income to the gift recipient.  But she would have a reporting requirement.  Actual gift tax is not owed unless a person's lifetime total gifts + estate is more than $10 million.

[SweetieJean]

$15,000 in 2018.

[rjs]

For 2018 the annual exclusion amount is $15,000.

The gift is made to the owner of the account that the money is deposited in. If your mother deposits the money in an account that is only in your name, then she made the entire gift to you, and not to anyone else.

If the children are minors you might need to set up UTMA custodial accounts for them. There are some possible problems with doing that. See the following links.

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://fairmark.com/kids-college/utma/problems-with-custodial-accounts/">http://fairmark.com/kids-co...>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://fairmark.com/kids-college/utma/utma-regret-when-custodial-accounts-turn-sour/">http://fairmar...>

Some banks will allow a minor to have a savings account in his or her own name. This is typically done with small amounts of money to teach the child about saving. I don't know the details of how such accounts work. Considering the amount of money you are talking about, I would be cautious about it and make sure you clearly understand all the rules. One thing that would concern me is that your 12-year-old could walk into the bank, withdraw thousands of dollars, and use it for whatever he or she liked.

[SweetieJean]

Maybe Mom could give you and Spouse $15k each now, and then another $15k each in January.

[macuser_22]

I agree --
The money gifted to the children should go into custodial accounts set up for  each child.  If the intent is to actually give the money to you through the children in order to stay withing the $14K (2017 or $15K 2018) limits to avoid the gift tax return then the gift to the child would be a sham gift and and not a gift at all since gifts can not have any strings attached.   It is illegal to launder gifts through a 3rd person to avoid the gift tax return.

[Anonymous]

the general downside to a UTMA (various states have various titles) account is that once the beneficiary reaches his or her majority, the trusteeship is supposed to end.  Then the beneficiary is free to use the money however they please.  Suppose a person made gifts to such an account with the intention that the minor use the money to pay for college tuition once they're grown .   The beneficiary, no longer a minor, decides to buy a car, jewelry etc with the money.  is there anything that the person who made the gifts can do?  talk to a lawyer.

if the $75,000 goes into an account with only one spouses name on it, then $60,000 must be reported as a gift.   the fact that the other spouse and children may have rights of survivorship   is irrelevant.