As defined in classic philosophy, an axiom is a statement that is so evident or well-established, that it is accepted without controversy or question. As used in modern logic, an axiom is simply a premise or starting point for reasoning.
Financial Planner. Iâm often asked if someone can take an income tax deduction for money they gift to their children. Gifts to individuals are not tax deductible. Tax deductions can only be taken for gifts to organizations on the IRS list of approved charities. However, there is a way to get a partial deduction for money that will eventually go to your children. A charitable lead annuity trust (CLAT) gifts money to a charity first, and then passes assets to your beneficiaries.
If you are moving out of your home, you can give the property to your child today. However, you will probably have to dip into your unified federal gift and estate tax exemption ($5.45 million for 2016). Hereâs how it works. First, offset the amount of the gift by using your $14,000 annual gift-tax exclusion. Remember it is $14,000 per donor. So if you and your spouse each make a gift to both your child and his spouse, you can offset $56,000 of the homeâs value (4 x $14,000). Then, as long as the net figure is less than $5.45 million, you wonât owe any current gift tax (unless you made very substantial gifts earlier that used up part of your exemption).