Split Gift

split gift

A gift from one partner in a marriage to someone outside the marriage when one-half of the gift is assumed by law to have been made by each spouse. A split gift permits the $10,000 annual gift tax exclusion per recipient to effectively be $20,000 per recipient when the gift originates from a married couple.

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Split Gift

The act of a married couple giving gifts to a single beneficiary separately in order to avoid the gift tax. Givers of gifts in excess of $10,000 are required to pay the gift tax. In order to avoid this through gift splitting, a husband and a wife may separately give up to $10,000, meaning that the beneficiary receives up to $20,000 without subjecting the giver to the tax.