OWS to Buy, Forgive Distressed Consumer Debt

[Ms. Toad]

162. It's not quite that simple

Gifts are always tax free to the recipient.

Not so for the donor. Any person can make annual gifts to any individual up to a certain amount without any tax consequences. The amount used to be $10,000 (not $9999). For 2012, the amount is $13,000. Beyond that any person can make tax free gifts (in any amount in any year) so long as the total lifetime gifts (over the annual exclusions) plus estate on death does not exceed $5,120,000 - so even if the gift is larger than $13,000, as long as all gifts from that person (to other individuals, not the spouse of the donor) over that person's lifetime are bigger than most of us can make, there are still no taxes owed (but there is paperwork owed - and any taxes will be paid only on death).

But that assumes the gift is from a person to a person. These aren't gifts from a person - and I have not spent much time in that realm of tax law (either to know whether the recipient might owe taxes (I don't think so) or what kind of organization would need to be set up so that there weren't tax consequences for the donor).

At least as far as tax law goes, corporations are not yet people.