- The amount you can gift without filing a tax return is increasing to $16,000 in 2022.
- The federal estate tax exclusion is increasing to more than $12 million per individual.
- The IRS’s announcement that the annual gift exclusion will rise for calendar year 2022 means that any person who gives away $16,000 or less to any one individual does not have to report the gift or gifts to the IRS.
- Persons who give away more than $16,000 to any one person are supposed to file Form 709, the gift tax return.
The basic federal estate tax exclusion amount for the estates of decedents dying during calendar year 2022 will be $12,060,000 million for individuals and $24,120,000 million for couples, up from $11.7 million and $23.4 million for calendar year 2021.
This $12,060,000 million lifetime gift tax exclusion means you will owe death taxes only if you have gifted more than a total of $12,060,000 million in the past. Form 709 that discloses excess annual gifts is irrelevant for most people because the vast majority of us do not have $12,060,000 million to give away.
For details from the IRS on many of these and other inflation adjustments to tax benefits, go to: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-21-45.pdf
To discuss your NJ estate planning matter, please contact Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq. toll-free at (855) 376-5291 or email him at fniemann@hnlawfirm.com. Please ask us about our video conferencing or telephone consultations if you are unable to come to our office.
By Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq. of Hanlon Niemann & Wright, a Freehold Township, Monmouth County, NJ Estate Planning Attorney