Lifetime Gift Tax Exclusion 2026: $15 Million Explained

October 17, 2026 · Informational · Not tax or legal advice

General information, not tax, legal or financial advice. We are not the IRS. Check IRS.gov or a qualified tax professional. Sources read on October 17, 2026. The 2026 Form 709 instructions were still a draft ("DRAFT", dated September 2, 2026) when read, so anything taken from them is expected and must be rechecked against the final version. Examples use made-up numbers. This page contains no affiliate links.

Short answer: for gifts made in 2026, the basic exclusion amount is $15,000,000 per person (IRS FAQ on gift taxes; draft 2026 Form 709 instructions). It was set by Public Law 119-21, signed July 4, 2025, which amended section 2010(c)(3). Rev. Proc. 2026-25 (section 3) also cites the lifetime basic exclusion amount of $15,000,000 and a corresponding $15,000,000 GST exemption.

How it fits with the annual exclusion

• Annual exclusion ($19,000 per recipient for 2026): gifts within it generally do not need to be reported (outside special cases).
• Basic exclusion amount ($15,000,000 for 2026): a lifetime amount against which taxable gifts are measured. The draft shows the basic credit amount for 2026 as $5,945,800.
• The applicable exclusion amount can include, for a surviving spouse, any unused exclusion amount of the last deceased spouse (who died after December 31, 2010), if the executor made a timely and complete Form 706 election.

Top rate

The draft says the top rate for gifts and generation-skipping transfers remains 40%.

Why file if no tax is due?

Reporting gifts above the annual exclusion on Form 709 generally tracks use of the lifetime amount (our reading; confirm in the instructions). See who must file.

Example (made-up numbers)

A donor gives $119,000 in 2026 to one child: $19,000 is covered by the annual exclusion and $100,000 is reported on Form 709. This reduces the remaining lifetime amount; no gift tax is expected to be payable at this size (illustration only, not advice).

2027 and later

Any amount for 2027 or later is not confirmed here; treat it as expected until the IRS publishes it. The IRS FAQ treats amounts year by year.

FAQ

Is $15 million per couple? The IRS text we read says per person.

Does the exclusion apply to gifts before 2026? The IRS FAQ has a question on earlier years; we did not read its full answer.

What we could not verify

• Exclusion amounts for 2027 and later.
• How earlier gifts interact with the 2026 amount (the IRS FAQ question was seen, not read in full).
• Final version of the 2026 Form 709 instructions (the draft was read; wording and numbers may change).

Sources (official)

• IRS, Frequently asked questions on gift taxes — irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/frequently-asked-questions-on-gift-taxes (read October 17, 2026)
• IRS, Instructions for Form 709 (2026), draft (dated Sep 2, 2026) — irs.gov/pub/irs-dft/i709--dft.pdf (read October 17, 2026; recheck the final version)
• IRS, Rev. Proc. 2026-25 (2026-29 I.R.B. 45) — irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-26-25.pdf (read October 17, 2026)