Under the Internal Revenue Code, certain figures affecting estate planning are adjusted annually for inflation. RIA calculated those numbers and reported the following:
Estate, Gift and Generation-skipping transfer basic exemptions: $5,120,000 (an increase from $5 million in 2011). Also keep in mind the effect of portability of the first deceased spouse's unused estate tax exemption that is potentially added to the surviving spouse's gift and estate tax exemptions (but not GST). Portability must be elected by timely filing a U.S. Estate Tax Return (Form 706) for the deceased spouse.
Gift tax annual exclusion: $13,000 (no change).
Gift tax annual exclusion for gifts to non-U.S. citizen spouses: $139,000 (an increase from $136,000 in 2011). Remember that gifts to non-U.S. citizen spouses are not unlimited.
