tax on a familial gift for my Canadian wife from her family in Canada, where there is no gift tax

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morgtan45
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Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2021 11:34 pm

tax on a familial gift for my Canadian wife from her family in Canada, where there is no gift tax

Post by morgtan45 »

I am a US citizen and my wife is Canadian citizen with a green card for the USA. We are looking to buy a house here in the US and my wife's father, who lives in Canada, wants to give us a familial gift of $120,000 to go towards a down payment.

I'm confused because I know gifts here in the USA are taxable to the "donor" and not the one receiving the gift but I read that there is no such thing as a "gift tax" in Canada (https://financialpost.com/moneywise/whe ... ift-letter)?

So does that mean her father in Canada can gift (wire or send a check) her the money here in the USA without him triggering a tax event? She has a handful of Canadian bank accounts still and has US ones as well.

As far as I can tell, my wife and I wouldn't be taxed since we are recipients. If he were American, I know her father normally he'd be taxed as the one giving the gift but since he's a Canadian citizen living in Canada where there are no gift tax rules, I don't know.
nelsona
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Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Re: tax on a familial gift for my Canadian wife from her family in Canada, where there is no gift tax

Post by nelsona »

your assessment is correct.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
nelsona
Posts: 18311
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Re: tax on a familial gift for my Canadian wife from her family in Canada, where there is no gift tax

Post by nelsona »

What your wife simply needs to do is report (no tax) the gift on Form 3520.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
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