Not really. As I posted on 8/27 here :"
No. In some rare cases (very large gifts), a gift can sometime be taxable to the person who gives it (the giftER) as a sort of advance Estate Tax. Altough a Gift Tax return has to be filed at a fairly low threshold.
*wiki: There are two levels of exemption from the gift tax. First, transfers of up to (as of 2006) $12,000 per person per year are not subject to the tax. An individual can make gifts up to this amount to as many people as they wish each year, and a married couple can make gifts up to twice that amount, without incurring any gift tax. Second, there is a credit that essentially negates the tax on gifts until a total of $1,000,000 has been given by one person to another (or, as the IRS puts it, “the unified credit against taxable gifts [is] $345,800 (exempting $1 million from tax)”.[2]
If an individual or couple makes gifts of more than the limit, gift tax is incurred. The individual or couple has the option of paying the gift taxes that year, or to use some of the “unified credit” that would otherwise reduce the estate tax. In some situations it may be advisable to pay the tax in advance to reduce the size of the estate.
But in many instances, an estate planning strategy is to give the maximum amount possible to as many people as possible to reduce the size of the estate (the effectiveness of this strategy is based on how long it can continue as obviously it cannot continue past death).
Furthermore, transfers (whether by bequest, gift, or inheritance) in excess of $1 million may be subject to a generation-skipping transfer tax if certain other criteria are met.
The United States has a Unified estate and gift tax.*"
I add my voice to the many suggesting a lawyer or at least a Certified Estate Planner. Your bank can suggest one, perhaps.
Why not include ethics in your quest for information? My intent was not to debate anybody, I just wanted insure that the answers you receive are legitimate, not wild ass guesses or schemes to defraud the taxpayers of this country. If you want opinions, you should have posted your questions in IMHO, not General Questions.
Is there anything unethical about taking advantages of tax deductions to minimize the income taxes one pays? I think most people would say no, as long as one stays within the law. Similarly, there’s nothing unethical about managing one’s affairs to maximize the Medicaid benefits one can get, again, as long as one stays within the law.
I guess I don’t understand the question. If they get sick, Medicare and a supplemental policy will pay the bills. Why do they have to hide their money? My mom got cancer and my dad paid something like $20 out of pocket for the whole ugly mess. The supplemental insurance isn’t that costly, either. My folks are by no means wealthy and they handled the premium just fine.
*“There is nothing sinister in so arranging one’s affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everybody does so, rich and poor; and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands.” *-- Justice Learned Hand
"A taxpayer need not arrange its affairs so as to maximize taxes as long as the transaction has a legitimate business purpose." – Judge Cornelia G. Kennedy in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, April 20, 1992, aff. of the Tax Court holding in Proctor & Gamble v. Commissioner