IRS Cracking Down on Gift Tax Cheaters

The IRS estimates that sixty to ninety percent of taxpayers give real estate to family members for little or no consideration and then fail to file Form 709 to report the gift. To help catch these gift tax cheats, the IRS is working on a major compliance initiative.

The IRS has begun checking transfers in Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Ohio and has already audited or examined over 500 people thus far.

See Stephanie Spinucci, Gift Tax Cheaters Beware!, The LBH Blog, Sep. 6, 2011.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (WealthCounsel) for bringing this to my attention.