Today, the IRS announced that the annual gift exclusion will rise to $16,000 for calendar year 2022. The amount an individual can gift to any person without filing a gift tax return has remained at $15,000 since 2018.

In addition, the basic estate tax exclusion amount for the estates of decedents dying during calendar year 2022 will be $12,060,000 for individuals and $24,120,000 for couples, up from $11.7 million and $23.4 million for calendar year 2021.  If the executor chooses to use the special use valuation method for qualified real property, the aggregate decrease in the value of the property resulting from the choice cannot exceed $1,230,000 in 2022.

The increase in the estate tax exclusion means that the lifetime tax exclusion for gifts should also rise to $12,060,000, as should the generation-skipping transfer tax exemption.

For details on many of these and other inflation adjustments to tax benefits, go to Revenue Ruling 2021-45, annexed hereto: 

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