๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States

Gift Tax Calculator 2026

$19,000 annual exclusion per recipient. $15M lifetime exemption under OBBBA. Calculate your gift tax and plan smart transfers.

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Gift Tax Calculator v Apr 2026 ยท IRS rules for tax year 2026

How to Use This Calculator

Tab "Calculate Gift Tax"

Enter the total gift amount, number of recipients, and your filing status. If married, check "gift splitting" to double the annual exclusion to $38,000 per recipient. The calculator shows how much of your gift is excluded from tax, how much applies to your lifetime exemption, and whether any actual gift tax is owed. Most gifts result in $0 tax because the $15M lifetime exemption under OBBBA absorbs taxable amounts.

Tab "Annual Exclusion"

Enter how many recipients you plan to give to and whether you are married with gift splitting. This tab calculates your maximum annual tax-free gifting capacity and shows a per-recipient breakdown. Use this to plan how much you can give each year without any tax filing requirement or impact on your lifetime exemption.

Tab "Lifetime Exemption"

Enter your cumulative prior taxable gifts (amounts above the annual exclusion from previous years) and your current year taxable gift (auto-filled from Tab 1 or entered manually). The calculator shows how much of your $15M lifetime exemption you have used, how much remains, and how many years at your current gifting rate before it is exhausted.

The Formulas

Annual Exclusion (2026):
Single: $19,000 per recipient per year
Married with gift splitting: $38,000 per recipient per year (2 × $19,000)

Taxable Gift per Recipient:
Taxable = max(0, Gift per recipient − Annual exclusion)

Total Taxable Gifts:
Total taxable = Taxable per recipient × Number of recipients

Lifetime Exemption (OBBBA 2026):
$15,000,000 per person ($30,000,000 per married couple)
Unified with estate tax exemption

Gift Tax (on amounts above lifetime exemption):
Graduated brackets from 18% to 40%:
$0–$10K: 18% · $10K–$20K: 20% · $20K–$40K: 22%
$40K–$60K: 24% · $60K–$80K: 26% · $80K–$100K: 28%
$100K–$150K: 30% · $150K–$250K: 32% · $250K–$500K: 34%
$500K–$750K: 37% · $750K–$1M: 39% · $1M+: 40%

Gift tax only applies after you have exhausted your entire $15M lifetime exemption. For the vast majority of taxpayers, the annual exclusion and lifetime exemption together mean no gift tax is ever owed. The lifetime exemption is unified with the estate tax exemption under OBBBA, so gifts that use the exemption reduce the amount available to shelter your estate at death.

Example

$50,000 Gift to 1 Person — Single Filer

Total gift amount$50,000
Annual exclusion (2026)$19,000
Taxable amount$31,000
Applied to lifetime exemption$31,000
Remaining lifetime exemption$14,969,000
Gift tax owed$0

A $50,000 gift to one person: $50,000 minus the $19,000 annual exclusion leaves $31,000 taxable. This $31,000 is applied against your $15,000,000 lifetime exemption, leaving $14,969,000 remaining. No actual gift tax is owed. You must file Form 709 to report the gift and track exemption usage. At $31,000 per year in taxable gifts, your exemption would last 483 more years.

Frequently Asked Questions

The 2026 annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient. You can give up to $19,000 to as many people as you want each year without any tax consequences or filing requirements. Married couples who elect gift splitting can give up to $38,000 per recipient. There is no limit on the number of recipients. If you give to 10 people, you can transfer up to $190,000 (or $380,000 with gift splitting) completely tax-free each year. Gifts within the annual exclusion do not reduce your lifetime exemption and do not require Form 709.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) raised the lifetime gift and estate tax exemption to $15,000,000 per person for 2026. Before OBBBA, the exemption was $13.61 million for 2024 and was scheduled to revert to approximately $7 million in 2026 when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions expired. OBBBA made the higher exemption permanent rather than letting it sunset. For married couples, the combined exemption is $30,000,000. This is a unified exemption shared between lifetime gifts and your estate at death.
You must file IRS Form 709 (United States Gift Tax Return) in any year you give a gift exceeding $19,000 to a single recipient. You also must file if you and your spouse elect gift splitting, even if no individual gift exceeds the exclusion. Form 709 is due April 15 of the following year (with extensions available). Filing Form 709 does not mean you owe tax. It reports the gift and tracks your lifetime exemption usage. Gifts to your spouse (if a U.S. citizen), qualified charitable donations, and direct payments for tuition or medical expenses do not require Form 709.
Yes, several types of transfers are completely exempt and do not count against your annual exclusion or lifetime exemption: (1) Gifts to your U.S. citizen spouse (unlimited marital deduction). (2) Gifts to qualified charities (unlimited charitable deduction). (3) Direct payments to educational institutions for tuition (must be paid directly to the school, not to the student). (4) Direct payments to medical providers for medical expenses (must be paid directly to the provider). These exempt transfers also do not require filing Form 709. Gifts to a non-citizen spouse have a separate higher annual exclusion of $190,000 for 2026.
Gift splitting allows a married couple to treat a gift made by one spouse as if each spouse made half. This doubles the annual exclusion to $38,000 per recipient and allows both spouses' lifetime exemptions to be used. To elect gift splitting, both spouses must consent on Form 709, and both must file a return for that year. Gift splitting is especially useful when one spouse has significantly more assets. For example, if one spouse gives $76,000 to two grandchildren, gift splitting means each spouse is treated as giving $19,000 to each grandchild, which falls exactly within the annual exclusion with no taxable amount.

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