My wife and I would like to gift money to our children, but are not certain how to structure the payments to be in line with the IRS requirements.

[DAM11]

My wife and I would like to gift money to our children.  From the IRS.GOV site, we believe that we are each able to gift up to $17,000 to each child without surpassing the limit for filing Form 709.  The question is whether or not the payments have to be structured in a certain way to meet this criteria.  For example, if we wish to give one child $10,000 from each of us, do we need to write two separate checks with some distinguishing memo notation, or can we provide one $20,000 check?  $20,000 would surpass the limit if it were from one of us, but not if it is from both.  Any checks would be written from our joint account.

We want to make certain that we are following the rules.

[xmasbaby0]

Gifts given to family members, friends or other individuals are not deductible.   Gifts received are not taxable to the person who received the gift, and are not entered on a tax return.

If your gift exceeds the yearly limit ($17,000 per individual)  imposed by the gift tax rules, then you will need to complete a Form 709 gift tax form and send it to the IRS, although it is very unlikely that you will owe any tax.    In 2024 that yearly limit will increase to $18,000.

TurboTax does not support Form 709.  It is not an income tax form and would not be included as part of an income tax return.

Here is a link to the form:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f709.pdf

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/estates/the-gift-tax-made-simple/L5tGWVC8N

[DAM11]

The question was not about the gifts being deductible, as we know they are not.  It was about how we need to make the accounting clear to the IRS, by either issuing individual checks noting the exact amount from my spouse or I, or if we could issue a combined check.

[MayaD]

You don't need to write separate checks. You can issue a combined check. 

[xmasbaby0]

Issue separate checks ---- a check from each of you.    You can each gift up to the 2024 maximum of $18,000 per child----so it would be possible to gift up to $36,000 in total per child if you write separate checks of $18,000 each.

[DAM11]

Two opposing conclusions.  🙂

Sounds like it would be safer to issue discrete checks, to allow for easier accounting of each gift from each parent.