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🇺🇸 Annual Exclusion · Lifetime Exemption · Form 709 · 2026

Gift Tax Calculator 2026

See how much of your gift is tax-free, how much must be reported on Form 709, and your running total against the lifetime exemption

⚡ Key Insight: In 2026 you can give up to $19,000 per recipient ($38,000 if married and gift-splitting) with zero filing required. Amounts above that only count against your $15 million lifetime exemption — they almost never trigger actual tax owed.
Tax-Free Now
$0
within annual exclusion
Reportable Excess
$0
goes on Form 709
Gift Tax Owed
$0
only if exemption exhausted
Filer Status
👤 Single
$19,000 exclusion per recipient
👪 Married Filing Jointly
Gift-split — $38,000 per recipient
Your Gift
$
Cash, property or asset value given
Each recipient gets their own exclusion
$
Cumulative taxable gifts from prior years, used against your lifetime exemption

How the Federal Gift Tax Works in 2026

The gift tax exists to stop people from avoiding the estate tax by giving away assets before death. Most people never pay a cent of it. Every year you can give up to the annual exclusion ($19,000 per recipient in 2026) completely tax-free, with no reporting required. Give more than that to one person in one year, and only the excess must be reported on IRS Form 709 — and even then, it usually just reduces your multimillion-dollar lifetime exemption rather than creating an actual tax bill.

2026 Key Figures

  • $19,000 — Annual exclusion per recipient, per year (unchanged from 2025)
  • $38,000 — Effective exclusion per recipient for married couples who elect gift-splitting
  • $15,000,000 — Lifetime gift and estate tax exemption per individual (up from $13.99M in 2025)
  • $30,000,000 — Combined lifetime exemption for a married couple
  • $194,000 — Annual exclusion for gifts to a non-US-citizen spouse

Gift Splitting for Married Couples

If you're married, you and your spouse can elect to "split" gifts — even if only one of you actually writes the check. This doubles your effective annual exclusion to $38,000 per recipient. Gift splitting requires filing Form 709 to make the election, even if no tax is owed.

Does the recipient owe gift tax?+
No. In the US, the person who gives the gift (the donor) is responsible for gift tax, not the recipient. Recipients never owe federal income or gift tax on money or property they receive as a gift, regardless of the amount.
What counts as a taxable gift?+
Cash, property, forgiven debt, interest-free loans, and below-market sales all count. Tuition or medical expenses paid directly to the institution or provider (not to the individual) are exempt entirely, regardless of amount, and don't use any exclusion.
Do I need to file Form 709 every year?+
Only in years where you give any single recipient more than the annual exclusion, or if you elect gift-splitting with your spouse. Form 709 is purely informational in most cases — it tracks how much of your lifetime exemption you've used, and typically no tax is due.
What happens when I use up my lifetime exemption?+
Once your cumulative lifetime taxable gifts (plus your taxable estate at death) exceed $15,000,000, additional transfers are taxed at rates up to 40%. This only affects a very small number of extremely wealthy families.
📌 2026 Gift Tax Figures
Annual exclusion$19,000
Married (split gifts)$38,000
Non-citizen spouse$194,000
Lifetime exemption$15M
Married couple total$30M
Top gift tax rate40%
💡 Gift Tax Strategies
→Spread gifts across multiple recipients — the exclusion applies per person, per year
→Married couples should elect gift-splitting to double the exclusion to $38,000
→Pay tuition or medical bills directly to the school or provider — unlimited and exclusion-free
→Gift early in January and again in December to use two years of exclusions close together
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