Taxes What Is an Annual Exclusion Gift? By Julie Garber Updated on November 15, 2022 Reviewed by Ebony J. Howard Reviewed by Ebony J. Howard Ebony Howard is a certified public accountant and a QuickBooks ProAdvisor tax expert. She has been in the accounting, audit, and tax profession for more than 13 years, working with individuals and a variety of companies in the health care, banking, and accounting industries. learn about our financial review board Fact checked by J.R. Duren In This Article View All In This Article How the Annual Exclusion Gift Works An Example of Annual Exclusion Gifts Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Photo: DreamPictures / Getty Images Definition An annual exclusion gift is a gift that qualifies for the annual exclusion from federal gift taxes. Key Takeaways An annual exclusion gift falls within the limit and is tax-free.The tax-free limit for 2022 is $16,000 and $17,000 for 2023.Spouses have an unlimited threshold of tax-free gift giving if the donee is a U.S. citizen.Married couples can double their tax-free giving to an individual by combining their limits.Any gifts split between a husband and wife must be reported on IRS Form 709. How the Annual Exclusion Gift Works An annual exclusion gift is a gift that can be included in the donor's yearly exclusion. The annual exclusion is a tax benefit that taxpayers can use when giving a gift that exceeds the exclusion amount. Annual exclusion gifts are usually in the forms of cash, stocks, bonds, portions of real estate, or forgiving debt on a family loan in an amount that doesn't exceed the annual gift tax exclusion. The federal government sets the allowable limits for tax-free giving each year. Note For the 2022 tax year, the federal exclusion from gift taxes is $16,000, and the limit for 2023 is $17,000. When you give someone a gift with a value of less than the exclusion limit, you don't need to pay taxes on it. However, if your gift is over the limit, you'll need to report the amount that exceeded the limit on IRS Form 709. Each person is given a separate annual exclusion amount to gift under U.S. tax law. They can give this amount to an unlimited number of people (family members and non-family members alike) during the year. For example, you can give any number of people a gift of $16,000 in 2022 without incurring any tax penalties. Married couples can combine their annual exclusion amounts, but gifts split between the husband and wife must be reported to the IRS on Form 709. Note Gifts made to a spouse who is a U.S. citizen are exempt from gift taxes because of the unlimited marital deduction. Gifts made to a spouse who is not a U.S. citizen have an annual exclusion amount of $159,000 for 2022 and $164,000 in 2023. An Example of Annual Exclusion Gifts Suppose that during 2022, you and your spouse, who are both U.S. citizens, make the following gifts: You give $5,000 to your son, Khaled, in March and then another $5,000 in December.Your spouse gives $10,000 to her daughter, Regina, in March and then another $10,000 in December.You give $2,000 to your niece, Gisele, in June.You give your spouse a diamond ring worth $50,000 in December. Gifts That Don't Require Reporting You have made total gifts of $62,000 in 2022. Fortunately, all the gifts qualify as annual exclusion gifts or are not taxable per the unlimited marital deduction. The $10,000 to Khaled and the $2,000 to Gisele qualify for the annual exclusion, and a total of $50,000 to your spouse qualifies according to the unlimited marital deduction. Gifts That Require Reporting On the other hand, your spouse has made total gifts of $70,000 in 2022 that may or may not qualify as annual exclusion gifts: A total of $20,000 to Regina exceeds the $16,000 annual exclusion limit, while a total of $50,000 to you qualifies for the unlimited marital deduction. What about the $20,000 to Regina? Will $4,000 of the $20,000 given to her be considered a taxable gift or not? This will depend on two factors: How the account(s) where the money came from was(were) titled, andWhether or not you agree to split the gifts with your spouse. You and your spouse can agree to split the $20,000 gift to avoid taxes. To do so, you'll both need to report the split gift to the IRS using Form 709. If you do not agree to split the exemption on Regina's gift with your spouse, your spouse will need to report a $4,000 taxable gift to the IRS using Form 709. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) How does the annual gift exclusion work? The IRS allows you to give gifts up to a certain dollar amount per person each year without being taxed. However, if you exceed that amount, you'll owe taxes on the gift's value above the limit. Do you apply annual exclusion to charitable gifts? Generally speaking, charitable donations aren't counted against your annual gift exclusion. However, if the IRS requires you to report your noncharitable gifts, you need to report your charitable gifts, too. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. IRS. "IRS Provides Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2022." IRS. "IRS Provides Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2023." Internal Revenue Service. "Frequently Asked Questions on Gift Taxes." IRS. "Instructions for Form 709 (2022)." Internal Revenue Service. "Frequently Asked Questions on Gift Taxes for Nonresidents not Citizens of the United States," Click "What can be excluded from gifts?" IRS. "Instructions for Form 709 (2022)," Click on "Gifts to charities" in left sidebar. IRS. "Frequently Asked Questions on Gift Taxes," Click "What can be excluded from gifts?"