Gift Tax Calculator

Enter the gift amount, the number of recipients, and your prior taxable gifts to see how much of the annual exclusion you've used, whether you must file Form 709, and how much of your lifetime exemption remains.

The quick answer: in 2026 you can give up to $19,000 to any number of people without reporting anything. Above that, the excess is a "taxable gift" you report on Form 709, but no tax is due until your lifetime taxable gifts pass the $15,000,000 exemption. Both figures come from the IRS's estate and gift tax updates.

This calculator is for informational purposes only, and its results are estimates. Gift valuation, trust gifts, and generation-skipping transfers can change the answer.

For the concepts behind the numbers (what counts as a gift, which payments are excluded, and how gifts affect an heir's tax basis), read how the gift tax works.

What each input means

Count everything you gave each person during the calendar year: cash, stock at its value on the gift date, the forgiven part of a loan, or the equity you hand over in a property transfer.

How the calculator works

1. Annual exclusion per recipient = $19,000 ($194,000 for a non-citizen spouse). With gift splitting, each spouse is treated as giving half of each gift, and each half gets its own $19,000 exclusion.
2. Taxable gifts this year = (your share of the gift per recipient − exclusion, if positive) × number of recipients + prior taxable gifts this year.
3. Tentative tax = tax on all your lifetime taxable gifts (including this year's) under the rate table below, minus the tax on your prior gifts. This is Form 709, Part 2, lines 4 through 6.
4. Unified credit = $5,945,800 in 2026 (the tax on $15,000,000), less the credit your prior gifts already used. The tool subtracts whatever credit is left from the tentative tax, so gift tax appears only on the part of cumulative gifts above the exemption.
5. Form 709 is flagged whenever this year's taxable gifts are above zero, and whenever you elect gift splitting.

With gift splitting, the results show one spouse's return. Your spouse files a separate Form 709 reporting the other half against their own $15 million exemption. The tool assumes your prior gifts were all sheltered by the exemption; if you paid gift tax in an earlier year, your actual credit is figured on Form 709's Schedule B worksheet.

Worked examples

Example 1: a gift under the exclusion

You give your nephew $15,000 in 2026.

• Exclusion: $19,000
• Taxable gift: $0
• Form 709: not required
• Lifetime exemption used: $0

Example 2: a down payment gift

You give your daughter $250,000 toward a house. You've reported $1,000,000 of taxable gifts in past years.

• Taxable gift: $250,000 − $19,000 = $231,000
• Cumulative taxable gifts: $1,000,000 + $231,000 = $1,231,000
• Remaining exemption: $15,000,000 − $1,231,000 = $13,769,000
• Gift tax due: $0
• Form 709: required, due April 15, 2027

Example 3: gift splitting for three children

You and your spouse give each of your three children $100,000 and elect gift splitting.

• Each spouse is treated as giving $50,000 to each child, with a $19,000 exclusion per child
• Taxable gifts per spouse: ($50,000 − $19,000) × 3 = $93,000 ($186,000 for the couple)
• On the returns: each spouse reports $93,000 of taxable gifts against their own $15,000,000 exemption
• Gift tax due: $0; both spouses file Form 709

Example 4: crossing the exemption

You've already used $14,900,000 of exemption and give $219,000 to one person in 2026.

• Taxable gift: $219,000 − $19,000 = $200,000
• Cumulative: $15,100,000, which is $100,000 over the exemption
• Tax: the first $100,000 of this gift is still covered by your remaining exemption; the $100,000 above it is taxed at the 40% top rate = $40,000

The calculator follows the Form 709 math: tentative tax on $15,100,000 ($5,985,800) minus tax on the prior $14,900,000 ($5,905,800) is $80,000, and the $40,000 of unified credit you have left ($5,945,800 − $5,905,800) brings it down to $40,000. Once you are above the exemption, the result works out to 40% of the excess, because the exemption sits well above the $1 million point where the 40% rate begins.

Gift tax rate table

These are the Form 709 rates under IRC §2001(c). They only matter after the lifetime exemption is used up, and because the exemption is $15 million, almost all tax actually paid is at 40%.

The tentative tax on exactly $15,000,000 is $345,800 + 40% × $14,000,000 = $5,945,800. That is the 2026 unified credit (applicable credit amount) that wipes out the tax on the first $15 million of lifetime gifts and estate combined.

Annual exclusion amounts by year

The 2026 figures are in Rev. Proc. 2025-32. The annual exclusion is indexed in $1,000 steps, so it doesn't rise every year.

When the calculator says you need Form 709

You must file Form 709 for 2026 if any of these apply:

• You gave any one person more than $19,000 (other than your U.S.-citizen spouse).
• You and your spouse want to split gifts, even if each half is under $19,000.
• You gave a future interest of any amount, such as a gift to most trusts where the beneficiary can't use the money now. Future interests don't qualify for the annual exclusion.
• You gave more than $194,000 to a non-citizen spouse.
• You want to elect to spread a large 529 plan contribution over five years.

Filing doesn't mean paying. For most people, Form 709 is simply how the IRS tracks your exemption usage.

Deadline: April 15, 2027 for 2026 gifts. Extending your income tax return with Form 4868 also extends Form 709. If you only need to extend the gift tax return, use Form 8892.

Gifts the calculator should not include

Leave these out of the gift amount entirely. They don't use the annual exclusion or your exemption:

• Tuition paid directly to a school. Room, board, and books don't qualify.
• Medical bills paid directly to the provider, including health insurance premiums.
• Gifts to your U.S.-citizen spouse (unlimited marital deduction).
• Gifts to qualified charities.

A check written to the student or patient, rather than the institution, is an ordinary gift.

529 superfunding: the five-year election

You can contribute up to five years of annual exclusions to a 529 plan at once and elect on Form 709 to treat it as made evenly over five years. For 2026 that's $95,000 per beneficiary, or $190,000 for a married couple splitting gifts. To model it here, enter $19,000 per recipient (one-fifth) and remember you can't make other excluded gifts to that beneficiary for the rest of the five-year period. Compare 529 plans with custodial accounts in the 529 vs. UTMA calculator.

Valuing gifts that aren't cash

The gift amount you enter is fair market value on the date of the gift, not what you originally paid:

• Publicly traded stock: the average of the high and low trading prices on the gift date.
• Real estate: a qualified appraisal. If you sell a house to a child for $200,000 when it's worth $350,000, the $150,000 difference is the gift.
• Interests in a family business or LLC: an appraisal, which may apply discounts for lack of control or marketability; the IRS can challenge aggressive discounts.
• Forgiven loans: the principal and accrued interest you cancel in the year.

Attach appraisals to Form 709 when you report hard-to-value property. Adequate disclosure starts the IRS's three-year window to question the value; without it, the value can be challenged at any time.

How lifetime gifts affect your estate tax

Gifts and estates share one $15 million exemption. Every dollar of taxable gifts reduces what's left to shelter your estate at death. Gifts made under the annual exclusion and the tuition and medical exclusions don't. To see the combined picture, run your estate through the estate tax calculator and enter your lifetime taxable gifts in the "Previous Taxable Gifts" field. For broader planning ideas, see estate tax planning strategies.