My mother wants to give me $44,000. Question. Does anyone

[Booster]

know roughly what the taxes on such a sum might be? I know she can give me $11,000 a year without my having to pay taxes, and if she didn't have dementia (and an evil stepfather), I would have her dole it out over the years, but if I do that I run the risk of getting only the $11,000 and she'll forget about the rest. Anybody have any thoughts about how this could be done without too much tax pain?

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

1. Are you married?

You mom can give you 11 grand & your spouse 11 grand. Your evil stepfather can give you 11 grand & your spouse 11 grand for a total of 44 grand.

On the other hand, I've read in Liz Pulliam Weston's column (she's syndicated) that the 11 grand a year has exceptions. You can actually give up to 1 million to one person in a year if that is all you ever give him/her. I'm not explaining this well, but if I gave you 1 million it would be tax free as long as I never gave you a penny before I gave you the mil or a penny after I gave you the mil.

Call a tax person, or a tax lawyer might be better.

best

[Booster]

2. No, I'm not married and am retired. I retired 2 yrs ago and the

first year of retirement, I paid $14,000 in taxes because of a buyout the company offered. That really hurt. Last year I paid over $4,000, so Bush's tax cuts have literally cut me to the bone.
ha My thinking is that since my mother is in the early stages of dementia and sometimes knows exactly what she's doing and other times doesn't, I better take the entire amount and pay the taxes. I was wondering if anyone knew what percentage of taxes one has to pay on a gift. Thanks for responding, and I will ask my CPA what should be done.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

3. Do not pay taxes

without talking to your CPA. Also, surf the web & look for Liz Pulliam Westons' column. I know she's written about this. There is a million dollar lifetime limit for tax free gifts.
Also, not to sound like a snot, but half the people graduate at the bottom of their class. Make sure your CPA knows what s/he is doing. Ask about the million dollar limit & see if s/he knows about it. If not, get a second opinion.

Here's an example: The first time we used our CPA I answered a few questions, one being, Was all your income from wages? I said yes. He sent out a accountant, not a CPA. I had sold some stocks in a trust fund & just assumed it would be counted as wages. She collected all our paper work & took it back to the office. A week later she came back with some huge amount of tax we owed & said she was still working on it. I had a meltdown & said to just send the statements, etc. back because I needed to get it done ASAP & start planning what country we would flee to. :rofl:
The CPA called & said she was confused, that stock sales are taxed at a different rate & he would come out & do it for us. Well, instead of owing obscene amounts we only owed a few hundred. I cancelled our plane tickets.

best

[Booster]

5. Thanks for the good advice. My mother has decided to cut it up

and give me $11,000 now and $11,000 in January, so I really don't have a choice in the matter, but that's probably the best way to go anyway. I did check out an article that said if the stepfather joins in on the gift, they can give you double, $22,000 in one year, so I may suggest that. Again, thanks for your help.

[Name removed]

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