啃父母有理！ － 2011 Gift Tax Exclusion - Annual Exclusion vs. Lifetime Exemption
这里大家在谈啃父母。如果父母有钱，为了减少日后你的儿女可能要交的遗产税的后果，即便他们现在不想啃你，实际上，你也得让他们啃。此话怎讲呢？下面，我先给您举个例子，然后，和您谈谈有关税法的规定。 我有一个client，最近来问我，她想帮女儿付买房的一部分的down payment，是否可以给$50,000不打税？回答是：It depends. 因为，她所赠与的数额，已经超过了联邦税法的annual gift tax exclusion的有关条例。 根据2011年的税法规定，你每年可以給任何你想要给的人$13,000.00 而不需要为此繳federal gift tax. 所以，合起來的话，你和你的配偶can give away up to $26,000.00 annually to any number of people. 如果2011年你不超过这个数目的话， then you don’t have to face any gift taxes. In this case, recipients never owe income tax on the gifts. 所以，你也就就不需要在报税的同时，file Form 709: U.S. Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return. 但是，如果哪怕在2011年里，你给你的孩子就只有$14,000 ，你仍然需要file a gift tax return and report that you used $1,000 ($14,000 minus the $13,000 annual exclusion) on the Form 709. 而关于the lifetime gift tax exemption，联邦是这么规定的：从2011年开始，你可以给最大限额达$5 million到任何你想要给的人的头上而免繳federal gift tax. 但是，这笔钱将从你死后的遗产税的免税额中扣掉。The lifetime gift tax exemption is tied to the federal estate tax exemption such that if you gift away any amount of your lifetime gift tax exemption, then this amount will be subtracted from your estate tax exemption after you die.回到最开始的那个例子，My client would use up $37,000.00 of her $5 million lifetime tax-free limit by which her $50,000 gifts exceed the $13,000 per-person annual gift-free amount for 2011. 你可能会说：哦，我家没有那么多钱，我们不用担心将来的遗产税的问题。的确，每个家庭的经济状况是不同的。但是，同时，我们需要被提醒的是，什么是estate的定义？The legal definition of estate is the total value of all of your assets, less any debts, at the time you die. The new rules for 2011 will tax estates over $5 million at rates as high as 35%. That $5 million is an exclusion meaning the first $5 million of your estate does not get taxed. These estate tax provisions are scheduled to expire after 2012. 2012年以后，财产继承人会因为父母死时所留下的所有的超过一定限度的遗产，将要面临着最高要付60%的税的沉重的包袱的现实。 如果你现在住在加州等地，就光是买一个好一点的学区的房子，就得cost you about $1 million，然后，加上你可能还有的self－business，或者你的几栋rentals，那么，你还敢那么自信地认为遗产税与你无关么？从现在起，你需要认真地算一算，到底你还能有多少年，可以用掉政府给你的有关的免税的好处。因为，政府制定的the federal gift tax的这一税法的目的就只有一个：要严防收入在中产阶级以上的纳税人。在死之前avoid the federal estate tax by giving away their money. 你以为你clever，但是，政府其实早已经抢在了你的前头。所以，as noted above, you can move a lot of money out of your estate using the annual gift tax exclusion. 因此，giving a gift to your children的好处有哪些呢？ 1）减免你死的时候将留给你孩子的estate taxes的负担。 2）Reduce你现在的income taxes. 假如你现在转让一些财产，比如说，a rental house在你孩子的名下的话，then you may reduce your income taxes paid within a family by shifting these assets to family members in lower tax brackets. 3）教导你的下一代如果管理家族财富。Giving family members assets now allows you to monitor their ability to handle their future inheritance. 最后，让我们看一下有关的tax-free gifts of tuition的问题。 不管你孩子上的是州立大学或私立大学，根据国税局的Internal Code Section 2503(e) (2)(A)的规定，tax-free tuition gifts to children and grandchildren can save hundreds of thousands in gift and generation skipping taxes. 但是，有一注意事项：作为父母，你必须付孩子的学费directly to the service provider, that is to say, to the college. Reimbursements to the donee for his expenses will be taxed. 总之，the gift tax is perhaps the most misunderstood of all taxes. 如果就因为你不懂税法，没规划好各种政府许可的给孩子的免税的gift的话，那么，等你离开世界的那一天，你将很有可能会trigger a large estate tax bill for your children，一下子扔给孩子最低41%，最高60%的税的包袱。所以，现在的问题症结不是在于，你允不允许你的儿女来啃你，而是，若经济上富裕的话，你就必需得要让你的儿女来啃你，而且啃你还要啃到底，这样，全家老小才能齐动员，保住家族财产的利益。
