Gift Tax Returns and Penalties for Not Filing

A fair amount of taxpayers are familiar with at least the basics behind gifts and taxes, but it’s important to understand your obligations when making taxable gifts to others to ensure your compliance with the Internal Revenue Code.

If you make a taxable gift to someone else, a gift tax return needs to be filed. If you fail to do this, penalties may apply. If you don’t file the gift tax return as you should, you could be responsible for the amount of gift tax due as well as 5% of the amount of that gift for every month that the return is past due. If you fail to pay the penalty, you could be responsible for the amount of the gift tax due and .5% of the amount of the gift for every month after the due date. 

Sending in your gift tax return is important for practitioners, too. Failing to do this could result in criminal charges or even referral to the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility under the umbrella of a Circular 230 violation. Bear in mind that although this filing requirement does relate to taxable gifts, even those under the annual exclusion amount, should be listed on a report. Those who fall under the annual exclusion, however, are unlikely to face a penalty as these penalties only relate to the amount of tax due.