Question

Gift tax form for prior years

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
May 23, 2022
1 reply
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Hi,

I just realized that I have not filed form 709 for prior. years. All the gifts were within the IRS limits ($15000) and to my own children so I thought that form 709 is not needed. But recently I read that filing it is a good practice.

Can I now file for 709 for prior years? How far back can I go?

M

Mike9241

where did you read that? for cash gifts, you're wasting your time. for gifts of property, you might file to establish the date of the gift and both FMV and your cost basis which the donee needs (still it's not required. you could just give the donee a letter stating the above facts). Filing past returns when not required might raise questions at the IRS and that might result in audits of your tax returns and finances. I don't advise it.

T

tax-novice2Author

I recently opened a bank account for one kid and was planning to put the money into it. Was also considering opening a brokerage account for them so that they understand investing. I don't want this gift to cause problems for them in future by being counted against inheritance limits (in the small chance that we actually hit it).

I read about the good to file 709 for documentation purpose here https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/sharing-wealth-how-lifetime-gift-tax-exemption-works

A

Anonymous_

Employee

@tax-novice2 wrote:
I read about the good to file 709 for documentation purpose here https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/sharing-wealth-how-lifetime-gift-tax-exemption-works

The article referenced gift splitting in terms filing a 709 "for the purpose of documentation" and not for any other reason.