Are there tax implications of financially supporting my civil partner?

December 13, 2022 3:24 PM

If I give money to my civil partner for living expenses, do either of us need to report that on our taxes?

We are registered as civil partners in the city of Seattle, but do not cohabitate. I have more wealth, so sometimes contribute funds for my partner to help pay living expenses. Do either or both of us need to declare this on our taxes and if so, where can I find the details about any limits involved?

posted by Cogito to Work & Money (6 answers total)

Only if you go over $16,000.
posted by LionIndex at 3:51 PM on December 13, 2022 [3 favorites]

(And even if you do go over $16,000, it won't actually affect your taxes unless you're planning on giving them millions of dollars over the course of your lives.)
posted by mskyle at 4:09 PM on December 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

Just to be clear, if you go over $16,000, you will need to file a tax form with your return and then hold onto that form for the rest of your life so when you die, the executor of estate can add up all of those over the threshold gifts plus the total value of your estate to see if any estate taxes are owed. Right now, the lifetime total of estate tax plus gift tax is extremely high (over $12 million) but that may change by the time you die and, in case, the legal requirement to track it remains in place. So, you might want to keep your gift under the annual limit or play with the timing so you don't have to file the form every year. Also, paying tuition or medical expenses is not a gift so if you pay for their medical insurance premiums or medical expenses (paying directly to the biller, not giving money to your partner for them to pay) that will be excluded too. So you could give them $16,000 cash plus pay their insurance premiums and get to a much higher total gift without having to file the form or track the gifts. Gifts are never taxed in the US to recipients.
posted by metahawk at 4:21 PM on December 13, 2022 [8 favorites]

Note that Washington has its own estate tax but it has no state "gift tax" and no lifetime limit on gifting. So you are only responsible for federal tracking of gifts over the annual exemption.
posted by muddgirl at 5:33 PM on December 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

Washington is a community property state, so what you want to find out is whether a civil partnership is the same as a domestic partnership. If so, I *think* that you and your partner are sort of a unit for tax purposes anyway and formally own your combined assets in common. IANAL though.
posted by heatherlogan at 6:08 PM on December 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

Also, under US federal law, gifts to your spouse are not taxable gifts. See "what can be excluded from gifts?" here. BUT, domestic partnerships, civil unions, etc. are not marriages.
posted by heatherlogan at 6:15 PM on December 13, 2022