As expected, the IRS announced that the annual gift tax exclusion is finally going up in 2018, to $15,000. The annual exclusion, which is increased only in increments of $1,000, had been set at $14,000 per recipient for the past five tax years (2013-2017).

Thus, if you have five grandchildren, you can now give gifts of $15,000 to each one free of gift tax, for a total of $75,000. The exclusion is doubled for joint gifts made by a married couple.

If you have any questions, please reach out to our Estate and Trust department.