Here’s a tip from the IRS.

 Hi… I’m Becki and I work for the Internal Revenue Service.

 Did you make a gift to an individual in 2010? If so, you may have some questions about how gift taxes are affected by the new law signed by the president in December 2010.

Well, simply put, the new law did not change the rules for gifts made in 2010.

Basically, if you made gifts of less than $13,000 to any one person, then you probably don’t even need to report it to the IRS.

If, however, you made gifts of more than $13,000 to any one person, you will need to file a form 709, gift tax return.

But remember, there is a one million dollar lifetime exemption effective for taxpayers who made gifts in 2010.

So even if you made a gift greater than $13,000, you will not need to pay any gift tax unless your total lifetime gifts exceeded one million dollars in 2010. You would just need to report the gift on a form 709.

There are some gifts that don’t need to be reported on a form 709, regardless of how much is given.

These gifts include tuition or medical expenses you pay directly to a medical or educational institution and gifts to a political organization for its use.

Also, remember that most charitable gifts do not need to be reported on a form 709 and you cannot deduct any gifts you made to an individual on your income tax return.

For more information, please go to our website at irs.gov and type in keywords “gift tax.”