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Clementine49 Asked March 2020

$450 to file a gift tax form?!

(Mother's POA in Michigan) With the help of elder law attorney, I was able to see that mother in nursing home qualified for Medicaid in 2019. There was a penalty period (private pay) due to her "gifting" some of her money earlier in the year. I am currently filing her 2019 taxes and have been told by the tax preparer that he will have to charge me almost $450 to file the gift tax form. (Mother gifted more than the threshhold $15,000 per recipient but I've been assured that there will be no gift tax to pay.) If nothing else, I might be able to tackle the 5-page form myself but worried about the "correct" way to make sure it is reported properly.


Anyone had experience in this? Advice? Thank you

AlvaDeer Mar 2020
AARP has some tax help as well? Give them a call and ask for recommend. Also some Senior Centers; I know there is free tax help at some in California where I live. Wishing you luck. That's a lot, but it cost me 156.00 for very simple filing this year. I think it is something I just expect to do to take a load off my mind that all the i's are dotted and t's crossed.
Clementine49 Mar 2020
AlvaDeer, like you, I willingly pay to have mother's taxes done each year, just for the peace of mind. But just looking over the gift tax form is causing me palpitations -if reporting gifts is mandatory, why make the form so incredibly complex? One of the "giftees" is having a FIT b/c he has to supply his SSN for the form and says it will really screw up his Obamacare. As if it is MY fault! I find it all too overwhelming at the moment. (Thanks for the AARP & senior center suggestions. I will look into them.)
GardenArtist Mar 2020
Download the form 709 from the IRS web site and take a shot at completing it yourself.    If you're uncomfortable, e-mail (don't call) the IRS with your questions.  Sometimes it takes a month for them to respond, but at least you have the instructions directly from the IRS.

I've never used a paid preparer so I don't know what the cost is.   One of the firms I worked for prepared 709s for clients, but the charge would have been on an hourly basis.   That was a few decades ago though.

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