The underlying laws governing gift and estate taxes did not change, but the amounts that can be given away are indexed for inflation and have increased greatly.

Q: How have the gift and estate tax laws changed in 2024?

A: The underlying laws did not change, but the dollar amounts that can be given away are indexed for inflation and have increased greatly since last year.

The exemption from gift and estate taxes is now just above $13.6 million, up from about $12.9 million last year. This is the dollar amount of taxable gifts that each person can make while living or at death. Any amounts given away above the $13.6 million amount would be taxed at 40%.

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A married couple gets two of the $13.6 million exemptions, so together they can give away $27.2 million.

The annual exclusion from the gift tax........

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