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The Annual Gift Tax Exclusion

April 13, 2006

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Among the basic tenets of estate taxation, this exclusion allows unique opportunities to pass on wealth tax-free.

The small business owner should try to take advantage of the $12,000 annual gift exclusion (in 2006 and 2007), which is often used as part of an estate planning strategy. This exclusion is scheduled to increase in amount, as it is now indexed to the rate of inflation. Lifetime annual gifts that qualify under this exclusion do not reduce the unified estate or gift tax exemptions.

A husband and wife can join together and raise the exclusion to $24,000, even if only one owns the transferred property, through a concept called "gift splitting." This requires that a Federal Gift Tax Return, Form 709, be filed, and a gift splitting election be made.

In addition, the $12,000 annual gift-giving amount is the exclusion per donee. Carefully used, this estate planning strategy can be used to transfer significant amounts without any federal gift taxes.

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