Property give to son

[rwm221]

My client gave his property to son. Is this subject to give tax. If so, how is bases determined.

[Lion]

File a gift tax return for your client. The son's basis is the same as your client's basis was immediately before the gift.

[ATSMAN]

Lion is correct. Also make sure if it was an outright gift or a gift with conditions. I have seen many gifts with conditions like a life estate or other stipulations. It gets complicated.

[rbynaker]

Basis for gifts can be wonky. If the asset has decreased in value (FMV < Donor's adjusted basis) then it creates what I call "the neutral zone". You get two basis amounts, one for calculating gains, one for calculating losses. See IRS Pub 551, page 9:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p551.pdf

Rick

[Uncle Sam]

We don't know whether it's a gift that requires a gift tax return due to being under the annual threshhold, or whether it's real property or automobile that requires legal title transfer. In any event "gift tax return' is really a misconception because in almost all cases where I've seen gift tax returns filed, it's only a reporting of the valuations involved, and reduction of lifetime exclusion - almost never a tax being paid upon the filing.