Gift splitting

Gift splitting

A technique used to avoid a gift tax in which a large sum of money to be given by two parents to a child is halved and given to the child separately. For example, a husband and wife each donate $10,000 to their child rather than one parent donating $20,000.

Gift Splitting

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, spouses may separately give up to $10,000, meaning that the beneficiary receives up to $20,000 without subjecting the giver to the tax.