Updated October 1, 2026. Quick answer: Form 709 is the federal gift tax return. You generally must file it for a year in which you gave any one person other than your spouse more than $19,000, gave anyone a gift of a future interest of any size, or want to split gifts with your spouse. Filing does not mean tax is due: the IRS says the return is required whether or not any tax is ultimately due. Spouses file separate returns, and the giver files, not the person who received the gift.
Form lines read one part at a time: Form 3520 Part I and Form 3520 Part IV.
IRS estate-administration forms, read line by line: Form 56 lines 3 to 5, Form 706-NA Part II lines 1 to 8 and Form 706-NA Part III.
Form 709 (gift tax return), read line by line: Form 709 Schedule A Part 1, Form 709 Schedule A Part 2 direct skips, Form 709 Schedule A Part 3 indirect skips and Form 709 Schedule A Part 4 lines 1 to 12.
Form 706 (estate tax return), read line by line: Form 706 Part I lines 1 to 14, Form 706 Part II lines 1 to 8, Form 706 Schedules P and Q and Form 706 Schedules T and U.
More IRS forms and schedules, read line by line: Form 8821 instructions.
More IRS forms and schedules, read line by line: Form 3520 instructions.
More IRS forms and schedules, read line by line: Form 706 instructions.
State by state, whether a gift is taxed by the state itself: gift tax by state.
The tests that require a return
The IRS instructions open with the general rule: “If you are a citizen or resident of the United States, you must file a gift tax return (whether or not any tax is ultimately due) in the following situations.” Three of the situations matter most to a family giving money:
- “If you gave gifts to someone in 2025 totaling more than $19,000 (other than to your spouse), you must generally file Form 709.”
- “Certain gifts, called future interests, are not subject to the $19,000 annual exclusion and you must file Form 709 even if the gift was under $19,000.”
- “You must file a gift tax return to split gifts with your spouse (regardless of their amount) as described in Part III Spouse’s Consent on Gifts to Third Parties, later.”
The instructions in the first bullet are for gifts made in 2025. The $19,000 figure is the same for 2026: Revenue Procedure 2025-32 says “For calendar year 2026, the first $19,000 of gifts to any person (other than gifts of future interests in property) are not included in the total amount of taxable gifts under § 2503 made during that year.” The two editions are compared in the table further down.
Who does not need to file
The IRS lists three conditions, all of which must be met: “You made no gifts during the year to your spouse.” “You did not give more than $19,000 to any one donee.” “All the gifts you made were of present interests.” Its summary of the consequence is: “If you meet all of the following requirements, you are not required to file Form 709.”
Gifts to charity have their own rule: “If the only gifts you made during the year are deductible as gifts to charities, you do not need to file a return as long as you transferred your entire interest in the property to qualifying charities.”
Gifts to a spouse
A U.S.-citizen spouse is mostly outside the return: “You do not have to file a gift tax return to report gifts to your spouse if your spouse is a U.S. citizen unless you made a gift to your spouse of a terminable interest that does not meet the exception described under Life estate with power of appointment, later.” A spouse who is not a U.S. citizen has a higher limit before a return is required: “You do not have to file a gift tax return to report gifts to your spouse if your spouse is not a U.S. citizen unless the total gifts of present interests you made to your spouse during the year exceed $190,000 or you made any gifts of future interests to your spouse.” For 2026 that dollar figure is $194,000 under Revenue Procedure 2025-32.
Payments that are not gifts for Form 709
The instructions name four kinds of transfer that are not subject to the gift tax: political organizations, certain exempt organizations, tuition paid directly to a school, and medical care paid directly to the provider. Of these the IRS says: “You need not file a Form 709 to report these transfers and should not list them on Schedule A of Form 709 if you do file Form 709.” The tuition and medical exclusions apply only to direct payments: “The payment must be made directly to the qualifying educational organization and it must be for tuition.”
Who files and who pays
Each person files for themselves: “Spouses may not file a joint gift tax return. Each individual is responsible to file a Form 709.” On who owes any tax: “The donor is responsible for paying the gift tax.” If the giver has died: “If a donor dies before filing a return, the donor’s executor must file the return.”
Which year’s figures apply
The edition read for this page is the 2025 Form 709 and its instructions, which cover gifts made in calendar year 2025. The 2026 dollar figures come from Revenue Procedure 2025-32. The 2026 form and instructions had not been published at the time this was read.
| Figure | Gifts made in 2025 | Gifts made in 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Annual exclusion per recipient | $19,000 | $19,000 |
| Annual exclusion, spouse who is not a U.S. citizen | $190,000 | $194,000 |
| Basic exclusion amount | $13,990,000 | $15,000,000 |
The $13,990,000 is the 2025 figure the instructions state; the 2026 figure of $15,000,000 and the $194,000 spouse figure are from the revenue procedure. A return covering 2026 gifts is due in 2027; see the Form 709 due date page.
Common mistakes
- Assuming no return is needed because no tax is due. The filing test is the gift size and type, not whether tax is owed.
- Forgetting that a gift of a future interest requires a return at any amount.
- Treating a married couple as one filer. Each spouse who must file does so separately.
Related: the gift tax limit, the annual exclusion, the lifetime exemption, and Form 709 gift splitting.
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Answer againSources
- IRS Instructions for Form 709 (2025), United States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i709.pdf
- IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 1, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.