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I am sorry for your loss. Yes, it's true that for 2019, your annual gift tax exclusion will be $15,000, not $30,000 as it was when your wife was alive. But that doesn't mean that you'll have to start paying Gift Tax.
If your gifts to any one individual exceed $15,000 for the year, you will need to file a Gift Tax Return ( Form 709), but you won't actually start paying Gift Tax unless your gifts exceed both the annual exclusion amounts and the lifetime limit amount. You can give a total of up to $11.180 million in your lifetime before you start owing Gift Tax. And certain gifts, such as for Educational Expenses and Medical Expenses are not subject to Gift Tax.
TurboTax has a great discussion of the details of the Gift Tax. It's an often misunderstood tax that few individuals wind up paying.
1) Here are a few links that discuss this issue, gift splitting with a deceased spouse. This one talks about mistakes commonly made with spousal gift splitting. It says, "The executor for a deceased spouse may sign the consent to split a gift made prior to the death of the deceased spouse. Treas. Reg. § 25.2513-2(c). However, a donor may not split the gift with his or her deceased spouse if the gift is made after the spouse’s death. Rev. Rul. 55-506, 1955-2 C.B. 609." This similar to what you are saying, but slightly different.
This is the way I read it: If you give any individual more than $15000 for the year (Jan-Dec) you need to file a Form 709. Your wife can split any gifts between the two of you for the period that you are alive, and you do that on the return. Her executor (maybe that's you) would need to sign the agreement to do that. That would show 1/2 of the gifts for that period as coming from you.
If, after March, you have more gifts, that amount is added to your share of the Jan-March gifts. $15,000 can be excluded, and the rest will be added to your lifetime limit.
2) Yes, you will file 2 separate tax returns. One is your regular income tax return, Form 1040. The second is the United States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, Form 709. You can't e-file Form 709, you can only mail it.
You have the calculation right, but according to the IRS "You must file a gift tax return to split gifts with your spouse (regardless of their amount)." See this link to the IRS Instructions for Form 709. The quote is down the page, under Who Must File.
You have the calculation right, but according to the IRS "You must file a gift tax return to split gifts with your spouse (regardless of their amount)." See this link to the IRS Instructions for Form 709. The quote is down the page, under Who Must File.
Yes, I believe that we are saying the same thing!
No, not if you mean that you are transferring funds from your joint account to an account owned solely by you.
Yes, that is correct!
1) No.
2) Yes.
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