3000 pa gift to children

phoenix53

Registered User
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Hi

Is the period this gift can be made to children tax free, Jan to Dec each year?

Could you give 3000 on 31 Dec one year and a further 3000 on 1st Jan of the new year?

Do you have to have written proof that this is a tax exempt gift or is that necessary?

Thanks
 
yeah its an annual gift per calendar year. Mom and Dad can both make a gift so in essence 6k can be made to each child each year. It can add up to a substantial amount over time.

Its no harm to document it to avoid any future discrepancy.
 
Does it matter how the funds are transferred? For example, can same one of the two parents make two separate transactions of 3K during the year?
 
Only 3K is allowed so if same person does it twice I don't think that would be allowed. However, if you are transferring from a joint parents account it should be ok. This means that the receiver take a gift from several people in the same calendar year and the first €3,000 from each disponer is exempt from CAT.
 
I was going to start a new thread but this is recent so I'll ask here.

How do you set up an account for the child? As far as I know they have to be the beneficiary so the account has to be in their name and the parents won't have access.

Has anyone done this? Is there an example of an account or fund that I can read up on?
 
@The Oggster
I'm pretty sure that any of the life companies that do a regular savings product will do it under a bare trust. It's opened in your name, and a second document creates a trust in benefit of the child(ren).
Standard Life market such a product, and I know New Ireland definitely have one.

Just something to watch out - the fees can be high, but some reduce significantly if you put in a lump sum to open it.

Legally, once in place the money belongs to the children and it cannot be reversed.
 
Here's a previous thread with a bit more info:
 
@The Oggster
I'm pretty sure that any of the life companies that do a regular savings product will do it under a bare trust. It's opened in your name, and a second document creates a trust in benefit of the child(ren).
Standard Life market such a product, and I know New Ireland definitely have one.

Just something to watch out - the fees can be high, but some reduce significantly if you put in a lump sum to open it.

Legally, once in place the money belongs to the children and it cannot be reversed.
Doing some more reading and I think you can keep it going past the age of 18, if the beneficiary agrees and signs a document to this affect? I'm sure we all hope our kids will be sensible enough and we could convince them to leave the money until they're old enough but if they want the money at 18, is there nothing you can do to stop it?
 
Just to mention that the 3k gift exemption per calendar year does not only apply from parent to child. Anyone can make a gift of 3k per annum to anyone tax free.
 
Interested in doing something similar - but wondering about the management costs. What sort of fees structure would you expect for these bare trust products?
 
Just to mention that the 3k gift exemption per calendar year does not only apply from parent to child. Anyone can make a gift of 3k per annum to anyone tax free.
Can the recipient receive the gifts tax free or is it the donor who can give it tax free? How many €3 k can the recipient receive tax free in any one year?
 
Why have a trust that will cost money. Put it into a bank account in the child's name. Or maybe the Post office has a savings product. Alternatively Prize bonds in the child's name should be possible.
 
Can the recipient receive the gifts tax free or is it the donor who can give it tax free? How many €3 k can the recipient receive tax free in any one year?

It is free of tax implications for both recipient and donor. A recipient can receive one amount of €3k from any single donor in a year - but there isn't a limit on how many donors (s)he can receive a gift from.

For example - I can give €3k to my kid. My wife can also give €3k to our kid. So could my parents and my parents-in-law. We could all do the same for my kid's partner. In theory if you did all of that, as a family we could gift €36k (6 people each giving 2 gifts of €3k) in a year without any tax implications if they were trying to save for a house deposit for example.

Doesn't need to be family or related - you could also gift €3k to my kid if you felt like it
 
Why have a trust that will cost money. Put it into a bank account in the child's name. Or maybe the Post office has a savings product. Alternatively Prize bonds in the child's name should be possible.

Because the Post Office or Prize Bonds are almost guaranteed to lose money in real (i.e. after inflation) terms over someone’s childhood years.

A “bare trust” is a pretty basic and cheap “structure”. If it was me, I’d buy global equities for a baby and enjoy my 18 year time horizon.
 
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