Every year the IRS evaluates inflation information to determine whether or not the gift and estate tax thresholds need to be boosted. The estate tax refers to the amount of money a person can have in their estate without triggering federal estate taxes and the gift tax refers to the maximum amount of money you can give to somebody else without tax implications every single year. 

Both of these were recently boosted for 2018. Estate taxes will be assessed on a single person’s estate if it is valued at $5.6 million or more, allowing married couples to only have to pay estate taxes if together they have an estate worth $11.2 million or more. This allows you to shield a great deal of money from estate tax liability.

Gift tax liability has been boosted to $15,000 per year, an increase from $14,000 that it has sat at since 2013. It is important to remember that you are not prohibited from giving gifts greater than $15,000 to someone. It will simply require the creation and submission of a gift tax return. In any of these situations, you may wish to use other strategies to pass on assets to your loved ones. Making use of the gift tax is one such strategy that can be extremely powerful when used properly. Schedule a call today with a knowledgeable estate planning lawyer.