Instructions for Form 709

2025

Instructions for Form 709

United States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return

For gifts made during calendar year 2025

Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless

otherwise noted.

Contents

For Gifts Made

Page

General Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Purpose of Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Who Must File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

When To File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Where To File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Amending Form 709 To Provide

Supplemental Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Adequate Disclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Joint Tenancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Transfer of Certain Life Estates Received

From Spouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Specific Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Part I—General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Part III—Spouse’s Consent on Gifts to Third

Parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Schedule A. Computation of Taxable Gifts . . . . . . 8

Gifts Subject to Both Gift and GST Taxes . . . . . . . 9

Schedule B. Gifts From Prior Periods . . . . . . . . . 14

Schedule C. Deceased Spousal Unused

Exclusion (DSUE) Amount and Restored

Exclusion Amount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Schedule D. Computation of

Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax . . . . . . . . . 20

Part II—Tax Computation (Page 1 of Form

709) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Future Developments

For the latest information about developments related to Form

709 and its instructions, such as legislation enacted after they

were published, go to IRS.gov/Form709.

and Before

Use Revision of

Form 709 Dated

–––––

January 1, 1982

November 1981

December 31, 1981

January 1, 1987

January 1987

December 31, 1986

January 1, 1989

December 1988

December 31, 1988

January 1, 1990

December 1989

December 31, 1989

October 9, 1990

October 1990

October 8, 1990

January 1, 1992

November 1991

December 31, 1992

January 1, 1998

December 1996

December 31, 1997

–––––

*

* Use the corresponding annual form.

What’s New

• Electronic Filing. Modernized e-File (MeF) for gift taxes

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Oct 6, 2025

After

now offers a secure and accurate way to file the Form 709,

United States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax

Return. It is an electronic filing process that allows the Form

709 family of returns to be received through the MeF

system. You can e-file a return showing a balance due and,

at the same time, authorize an electronic funds withdrawal

from your bank account. Payments are subject to limitations

of the Federal Tax Deposit rules. Additional information is

available on the Modernized e-File information page. If help

is needed with your e-file tax needs, you may contact the

e-help Desk at 866-255-0654 (toll-free).

Electronic payments. If you have access to U.S. banking

services or electronic payment systems, you should use

direct deposit for any refunds and pay electronically for any

payments, whenever possible.

Making a payment. If there is a balance due on Part II,

line 19, go to IRS.gov/Payments for information on how to

make a payment. See the instructions for Part II, line 19,

later, for more details.

Direct deposit. Direct deposit fields have been added onto

the form on Part II, lines 20b, 20c, and 20d. If there is an

overpayment on Part II, line 20a, enter your direct deposit

information on Part II, lines 20b, 20c, and 20d. See Part II,

line 20, later, for more information.

The annual gift exclusion for 2025 is $19,000. See Annual

Exclusion, later.

For gifts made to spouses who are not U.S. citizens, the

annual exclusion has increased to $190,000. See

Nonresidents Not Citizens of the United States, later.

The top rate for gifts and generation-skipping transfers

remains at 40%. See Table for Computing Gift Tax.

The basic credit amount for 2025 is $5,541,800. See Table

of Basic Exclusion and Credit Amounts.

The applicable exclusion amount consists of the basic

exclusion amount ($13,990,000 in 2025) and, in the case of

a surviving spouse, any unused exclusion amount of the last

deceased spouse (who died after December 31, 2010). The

Instructions for Form 709 (2025) Catalog Number 16784X

Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service www.irs.gov

executor of the predeceased spouse’s estate must have

made an election on a timely and complete Form 706 to

allow the donor to use the predeceased spouse’s unused

exclusion amount.

Reminders

Part I—General Information. Entry lines in this section were

reorganized and the address includes foreign address entries.

Lines 12 through 18 were moved to Part III.

Part III—Spouse’s Consent on Gifts to Third Parties. Part I,

lines 12 through 18, were moved to a new Part III on the second

page of Form 709. A consenting spouse is no longer required to

sign the return but must sign a Notice of Consent to be attached

to the donor’s return.

Schedule A. Columns for Parts 1, 2, and 3 of Schedule A were

reorganized. New columns (k), (l), and (m) checkboxes were

added to Parts 1 and 3 to identify if the gift is a charitable gift,

deductible gift to spouse, or section 2652(a)(3) election.

New Form 709-NA. If you are a nonresident not a citizen of the

United States and made gifts of real or other tangible property

situated in the United States, file Form 709-NA, United States

Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return of

Nonresident Not a Citizen of the United States.

Photographs of Missing Children

The IRS is a proud partner with the National Center for Missing &

Exploited Children® (NCMEC). Photographs of missing children

selected by the Center may appear in instructions on pages that

would otherwise be blank. You can help bring these children

home by looking at the photographs and calling

1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) if you recognize a child.

General Instructions

Purpose of Form

Use Form 709 to report the following.

• Transfers subject to the federal gift and certain

generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes and to figure the

tax due, if any, on those transfers.

• Allocation of the lifetime GST exemption to property

transferred during the transferor’s lifetime. (For more details,

see Schedule D, Part 2 GST Exemption Reconciliation, later,

and Regulations section 26.2632-1.)

Caution: All gift and GST taxes must be figured and filed on a

calendar-year basis. List all reportable gifts made during the

calendar year on one Form 709. This means you must file a

separate return for each calendar year a reportable gift is given

(for example, a gift given in 2025 must be reported on a 2025

Form 709). Do not file more than one Form 709 for the same

calendar year.

How To Complete Form 709

1. Determine whether you are required to file Form 709.

2. Determine what gifts you must report.

3. Decide whether you and your spouse, if any, will elect to

split gifts for the year.

4. Complete lines 1 through 21 of Part I—General Information.

5. Complete lines 1 through 7 of Part III—Spouse’s Consent on

Gifts to Third Parties.

6. List each gift on Part 1, 2, or 3 of Schedule A, as

appropriate.

7. Complete Schedules B, C, and D, as applicable.

2

8. If the gift was listed on Part 2 or 3 of Schedule A, complete

the necessary portions of Schedule D.

9. Complete Schedule A, Part 4.

10. Complete Part II—Tax Computation.

11. Sign and date the return.

Tip: Make sure to complete page 1 and the applicable

schedules in their entirety. Returns filed without entries in each

field will not be processed.

Who Must File

In general. If you are a citizen or resident of the United States,

you must file a gift tax return (whether or not any tax is ultimately

due) in the following situations.

• If you gave gifts to someone in 2025 totaling more than

$19,000 (other than to your spouse), you must generally file

Form 709. But see Transfers Not Subject to the Gift Tax and

Gifts to Your Spouse, later, for more information on specific

gifts that are not taxable.

• Certain gifts, called future interests, are not subject to the

$19,000 annual exclusion and you must file Form 709 even if

the gift was under $19,000. See Annual Exclusion, later.

• Spouses may not file a joint gift tax return. Each individual is

responsible to file a Form 709.

• You must file a gift tax return to split gifts with your spouse

(regardless of their amount) as described in Part III Spouse’s

Consent on Gifts to Third Parties, later.

• If a gift is of community property, it is considered made

one-half by each spouse. For example, a gift of $100,000 of

community property is considered a gift of $50,000 made by

each spouse, and each spouse must file a gift tax return.

• Likewise, each spouse must file a gift tax return if they have

made a gift of property held by them as joint tenants or

tenants by the entirety.

• Only individuals are required to file gift tax returns. If a trust,

estate, partnership, or corporation makes a gift, the

individual beneficiaries, partners, or stockholders are

considered donors and may be liable for the gift and GST

taxes.

• The donor is responsible for paying the gift tax. However, if

the donor does not pay the tax, the person receiving the gift

may have to pay the tax.

• If a donor dies before filing a return, the donor’s executor

must file the return.

Who does not need to file. If you meet all of the following

requirements, you are not required to file Form 709.

• You made no gifts during the year to your spouse.

• You did not give more than $19,000 to any one donee.

• All the gifts you made were of present interests.

Gifts to charities. If the only gifts you made during the year are

deductible as gifts to charities, you do not need to file a return as

long as you transferred your entire interest in the property to

qualifying charities. If you transferred only a partial interest, or

transferred part of your interest to someone other than a charity,

you must still file a return and report all of your gifts to charities.

Note: See Pub. 526, Charitable Contributions, for more

information on identifying a qualified charity.

If you are required to file a return to report noncharitable gifts

and you made gifts to charities, you must include all of your gifts

to charities on the return.

Transfers Subject to the Gift Tax

Generally, the federal gift tax applies to any transfer by gift of real

or personal property, whether tangible or intangible, that you

made directly or indirectly, in trust, or by any other means.

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

The gift tax applies not only to the free transfer of any kind of

property, but also to sales or exchanges, not made in the

ordinary course of business, where value of the money (or

property) received is less than the value of what is sold or

exchanged. The gift tax is in addition to any other tax, such as

federal income tax, paid or due on the transfer.

The exercise or release of a general power of appointment

may be a gift by the individual possessing the power. General

powers of appointment are those in which the holders of the

power can appoint the property under the power to themselves,

their creditors, their estates, or the creditors of their estates. To

qualify as a power of appointment, it must be created by

someone other than the holder of the power.

The gift tax may also apply to forgiving a debt, to making an

interest-free or below-market interest rate loan, to transferring

the benefits of an insurance policy, to certain property

settlements in divorce cases, and to giving up some amount of

annuity in exchange for the creation of a survivor annuity.

Bonds that are exempt from federal income taxes are not

exempt from federal gift taxes.

Sections 2701 and 2702 provide rules for determining

whether certain transfers to a family member of interests in

corporations, partnerships, and trusts are gifts. The rules of

section 2704 determine whether the lapse of any voting or

liquidation right is a gift.

Digital assets. The gift tax applies to transfers of digital assets.

Digital assets are any digital representations of value that are

recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger or

any similar technology. For example, digital assets include

non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and virtual currencies, such as

cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. If a particular asset has the

characteristics of a digital asset, it will be treated as a digital

asset for federal transfer tax purposes.

Gifts to your spouse. You do not have to file a gift tax return to

report gifts to your spouse if your spouse is a U.S. citizen unless

you made a gift to your spouse of a terminable interest that does

not meet the exception described under Life estate with power of

appointment, later. You must also file a gift tax return to make the

qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) election described

under Line 12, later.

You do not have to file a gift tax return to report gifts to your

spouse if your spouse is not a U.S. citizen unless the total gifts of

present interests you made to your spouse during the year

exceed $190,000 or you made any gifts of future interests to your

spouse.

Transfers Not Subject to the Gift Tax

Four types of transfers are not subject to the gift tax. These are:

• Transfers to political organizations,

• Transfers to certain exempt organizations,

• Payments that qualify for the educational exclusion, and

• Payments that qualify for the medical exclusion.

These transfers are not “gifts” as that term is used on Form 709

and in its instructions. You need not file a Form 709 to report

these transfers and should not list them on Schedule A of Form

709 if you do file Form 709.

Political organizations. The gift tax does not apply to a

transfer to a political organization (defined in section 527(e)(1))

for the use of the organization.

Certain exempt organizations. The gift tax does not apply to a

transfer to any civic league or other organization described in

section 501(c)(4); any labor, agricultural, or horticultural

organization described in section 501(c)(5); or any business

league or other organization described in section 501(c)(6) for

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

the use of such organization, provided that such organization is

exempt from tax under section 501(a).

Educational exclusion. The gift tax does not apply to an

amount you paid on behalf of an individual to a qualifying

domestic or foreign educational organization as tuition for the

education or training of the individual. A qualifying educational

organization is one that normally maintains a regular faculty and

curriculum and normally has a regularly enrolled body of pupils

or students in attendance at the place where its educational

activities are regularly carried on. See section 170(b)(1)(A)(ii)

and its regulations.

The payment must be made directly to the qualifying

educational organization and it must be for tuition. No

educational exclusion is allowed for amounts paid for books,

supplies, room and board, or other similar expenses that are not

direct tuition costs. To the extent that the payment to the

educational organization was for something other than tuition, it

is a gift to the individual for whose benefit it was made, and may

be offset by the annual exclusion if it is otherwise available.

Contributions to a qualified tuition program (QTP) on behalf of

a designated beneficiary do not qualify for the educational

exclusion. See Line B in the instructions for Schedule A, later.

Medical exclusion. The gift tax does not apply to an amount

you paid on behalf of an individual to a person or institution that

provided medical care for the individual. The payment must be to

the care provider. The medical care must meet the requirements

of section 213(d) (definition of medical care for income tax

deduction purposes). Medical care includes expenses incurred

for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of

disease, or for the purpose of affecting any structure or function

of the body, or for transportation primarily for and essential to

medical care. Medical care also includes amounts paid for

medical insurance on behalf of any individual.

The medical exclusion does not apply to amounts paid for

medical care that are reimbursed by the donee’s insurance. If

payment for a medical expense is reimbursed by the donee’s

insurance company, your payment for that expense, to the extent

of the reimbursed amount, is not eligible for the medical

exclusion and you are considered to have made a gift to the

donee of the reimbursed amount.

To the extent that the payment was for something other than

medical care, it is a gift to the individual on whose behalf the

payment was made and may be offset by the annual exclusion if

it is otherwise available.

The medical and educational exclusions are allowed without

regard to the relationship between you and the donee. For

examples illustrating these exclusions, see Regulations section

25.2503-6(c).

Qualified disclaimers. A donee’s refusal to accept a gift is

called a disclaimer. If a person makes a qualified disclaimer of

any interest in property, the property will be treated as if it had

never been transferred to that person. Accordingly, the

disclaimant is not regarded as making a gift to the person who

receives the property because of the qualified disclaimer.

Requirements. To be a qualified disclaimer, a refusal to

accept an interest in property must meet the following

conditions.

1. The refusal must be in writing.

2. The refusal must be received by the donor, the legal

representative of the donor, the holder of the legal title to the

property disclaimed, or the person in possession of the

property within 9 months after the later of:

a. The day the transfer creating the interest is made, or

b. The day the disclaimant reaches age 21.

3

3. The disclaimant must not have accepted the interest or any

of its benefits.

4. As a result of the refusal, the interest must pass without any

direction from the disclaimant to either:

a. The spouse of the decedent, or

b. A person other than the disclaimant.

5. The refusal must be irrevocable and unqualified.

The 9-month period for making the disclaimer is generally

determined separately for each taxable transfer. For gifts, the

period begins on the date the transfer is a completed transfer for

gift tax purposes.

Annual Exclusion

The first $19,000 of gifts of present interest to each donee during

the calendar year is subtracted from total gifts in figuring the

amount of taxable gifts. For a gift in trust, each beneficiary

having a present interest in such gift is treated as a separate

donee for purposes of the annual exclusion.

All of the gifts made during the calendar year to a donee are

fully excluded under the annual exclusion if they are all gifts of

present interest and they total $19,000 or less.

See Gifts to Donees Other Than Your Spouse in the

instructions for Schedule A, later, for more information on the

annual exclusion whether or not gift splitting is elected.

Note: For gifts made to spouses who are not U.S. citizens, the

annual exclusion has been increased to $190,000, provided the

additional $171,000 gift (above the $19,000 annual exclusion)

would otherwise qualify for the gift tax marital deduction (as

described in the Schedule A, Part 4, line 4, instructions, later).

Note: Only the annual exclusion applies to gifts made to a

nonresident not a citizen of the United States. Deductions and

credits are not considered in determining gift tax liability for such

transfers.

A gift of a future interest cannot be excluded under the annual

exclusion.

A gift is considered a present interest if the donee has all

immediate rights to the use, possession, and enjoyment of the

property or income from the property.

A gift is considered a future interest if the donee’s rights to the

use, possession, and enjoyment of the property or income from

the property will not begin until some future date. Future interests

include reversions, remainders, and other similar interests or

estates.

A contribution to a QTP on behalf of a designated beneficiary

is considered a gift of a present interest.

A gift to a minor is considered a present interest if all of the

following conditions are met.

1. Both the property and its income may be expended by, or

for the benefit of, the minor before the minor reaches age

21.

2. All remaining property and its income must pass to the

minor on the minor’s 21st birthday.

3. If the minor dies before the age of 21, the property and its

income will be payable either to the minor’s estate or to

whomever the minor may appoint under a general power of

appointment.

The gift of a present interest to more than one donee as joint

tenants qualifies for the annual exclusion for each donee.

4

Nonresident Not a Citizen (NRNC) of the United

States

For gift tax purposes, an individual is an NRNC of the United

States if the individual is neither domiciled in nor a citizen of the

United States at the time the gift is made. An individual who

acquired U.S. citizenship solely by reason of being a citizen of a

U.S. territory or by reason of birth or residence within a U.S.

territory is not treated as a U.S. citizen.

Note: An individual may be a U.S. resident for income tax

purposes yet be considered a nonresident for gift tax purposes.

An NRNC of the United States is subject to gift and GST

taxes for gifts of real or other tangible property situated in the

United States. See section 2501(a). If you are an NRNC of the

United States and made such gifts, file Form 709-NA, United

States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return of

Nonresident Not a Citizen of the United States.

If you were an NRNC of the United States for the entire

calendar year who made a gift subject to U.S. gift tax, you must

file Form 709-NA when any of the following apply.

• You gave any gifts of future interests.

• Your gifts of present interests to any donee other than your

spouse total more than $19,000.

• Your outright gifts to your spouse who is not a U.S. citizen

total more than $190,000.

Note: If you are a taxpayer who is a partial-year resident/citizen

of the United States who makes gifts of U.S.-situs property

during the portion of the year that you are a nonresident

noncitizen and also during the portion of the same year when

you are a U.S. citizen or resident, you must account for

reportable gifts and tax attributes allocable to your nonresident

noncitizen period as well as your citizen or resident period. In

such circumstances, the taxpayer must file only Form 709 and

include information for all reportable gifts made regardless of the

taxpayer’s status.

Transfers Subject to the GST Tax

You must report on Form 709 the GST tax imposed on inter vivos

direct skips. An inter vivos direct skip is a transfer made during

the donor’s lifetime that is:

• Subject to the gift tax,

• Of an interest in property, and

• Made to a skip person. (See Gifts Subject to Both Gift and

GST Taxes, later.)

A transfer is subject to the gift tax if it is required to be

reported on Schedule A of Form 709 under the rules contained

in the gift tax portions of these instructions, including the split gift

rules. Therefore, transfers made to political organizations,

transfers made to certain exempt organizations, transfers that

qualify for the medical or educational exclusion, transfers that

are fully excluded under the annual exclusion, and most transfers

made to your spouse are not subject to the GST tax.

Transfers subject to the GST tax are described in further

detail in the instructions.

Caution: Certain transfers, particularly transfers to a trust, that

are not subject to gift tax and are therefore not subject to the

GST tax on Form 709 may be subject to the GST tax at a later

date. This is true even if the transfer is less than the $19,000

annual exclusion. In this instance, you may want to apply a GST

exemption amount to the transfer on this return or on a Notice of

Allocation. However, you should be aware that a GST exemption

may be automatically allocated to the gift if the trust that receives

the gift is a “GST trust” (as defined under section 2632(c)). For

more information, see Schedule D, Part 2—GST Exemption

Reconciliation and Schedule A, Part 3—Indirect Skips and Other

Transfers in Trust, later.

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

Transfers Subject to an Estate Tax Inclusion

Period (ETIP)

Certain transfers receive special treatment if the transferred

property is subject to an ETIP. An ETIP is the period during

which, should the donor die, the value of transferred property

would be includible (other than by reason of section 2035) in the

gross estate of the donor or the spouse of the donor. For

transfers subject to an ETIP, GST tax reporting may be required

at the close of the ETIP.

For example, if you transfer a house to a qualified personal

residence trust for a term of 10 years, with the remainder to your

granddaughter, the value of the house will be includible in your

estate if you die during the 10-year term. In this case, the transfer

to the trust is a completed gift that should be reported on

Schedule A, Part 3 because the transfer is subject to gift tax now

and will later become subject to GST tax. The transfer is not a

direct skip because the trust is not a skip person, as a non-skip

person (you) holds an interest in the trust.

On the Form 709 for the year in which the ETIP closes, you

should report the GST transfer (a taxable termination) on

Schedule D, Part 1, whether or not an allocation of GST

exemption or an election under section 2632(c)(5) was

previously made. This ensures accurate reporting of the value of

the transfer for GST purposes and the amount of GST exemption

allocated to the transfer occurring at the close of the ETIP. Note

that if the ETIP closes as a result of your death, the executor of

your estate will report the GST transfer on Form 706, United

States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return.

If you are filing this Form 709 solely to report the GST portion

of transfers subject to an ETIP, complete the form as you

normally would with the following exceptions.

1. Write “ETIP” at the top of page 1.

2. Complete only lines 1 through 12, and 14 through 16 of Part

I—General Information.

3. Complete Schedule D. Complete columns (b) and (c) of

Schedule D, Part 1, as explained in the instructions for that

schedule.

4. Complete only lines 10 and 11 of Schedule A, Part 4.

5. Complete Part II—Tax Computation.

Tip: A direct skip that is subject to an ETIP is deemed to have

been made only at the close of the ETIP. Any allocation of GST

exemption to the transfer of property subject to an ETIP, whether

a direct skip or an indirect skip, shall not be treated as made until

the close of the ETIP. The donor may prevent the automatic

allocation of GST exemption by electing out of the automatic

allocation rules at any time prior to the due date of the Form 709

for the calendar year in which the close of the ETIP occurs

(whether or not any transfer was made in the calendar year for

which the Form 709 was filed and whether or not a Form 709

would otherwise be required to be filed for that year).

Section 2701 Elections

The special valuation rules of section 2701 contain three

elections that you can make only with Form 709.

1. A transferor may elect to treat a qualified payment right that

the transferor holds (and all other rights of the same class)

as other than a qualified payment right.

2. A person may elect to treat a distribution right held by that

person in a controlled entity as a qualified payment right.

3. An interest holder may elect to treat as a taxable event the

payment of a qualified payment that occurs more than 4

years after its due date.

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

The elections described in (1) and (2) must be made on the

Form 709 that is filed by the transferor to report the transfer that

is being valued under section 2701. The elections are made by

attaching a statement to Form 709. For information on what must

be in the statement and for definitions and other details on the

elections, see section 2701 and Regulations section

25.2701-2(c).

The election described in (3) may be made by attaching a

statement to the Form 709 filed by the recipient of the qualified

payment for the year the payment is received. If the election is

made on a timely filed return, the taxable event is deemed to

occur on the date the qualified payment is received. If it is made

on a late-filed return, the taxable event is deemed to occur on the

first day of the month immediately preceding the month in which

the return is filed. For information on what must be in the

statement and for definitions and other details on this election,

see section 2701 and Regulations section 25.2701-4(d).

All of the elections may be revoked, but only with the consent

of the IRS.

When To File

Form 709 is an annual return.

Generally, you must file Form 709 no earlier than January 1,

but not later than April 15, of the year after the gift was made.

However, in instances when April 15 falls on a Saturday, Sunday,

or legal holiday, Form 709 will be due on the next business day.

See section 7503.

If the donor died during 2025, the executor must file the

donor’s 2025 Form 709 not later than the earlier of:

• The due date (with extensions) for filing the donor’s estate

tax return; or

• April 15, 2026, or the extended due date granted for filing

the donor’s gift tax return.

Extension of Time To File

There are two methods of extending the time to file the gift tax

return. Neither method extends the time to pay the gift or GST

tax. If you want an extension of time to pay the gift or GST tax,

you must request that separately. See Regulations section

25.6161-1.

By extending the time to file your income tax return. Any

extension of time granted for filing your calendar year 2025

federal income tax return will also automatically extend the time

to file your 2025 federal gift tax return. Income tax extensions are

made by using Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension

of Time To File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return; or Form 2350,

Application for Extension of Time To File U.S. Income Tax

Return. You may only use these forms to extend the time for filing

your gift tax return if you are also requesting an extension of time

to file your income tax return.

By filing Form 8892. If you do not request an extension for your

income tax return, use Form 8892, Application for Automatic

Extension of Time To File Form 709 or Form 709-NA and/or

Payment of Gift/Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax, to request an

automatic 6-month extension of time to file your federal gift tax

return. In addition to containing an extension request, Form 8892

also serves as a payment voucher (Form 8892-V) for a balance

due on federal gift taxes for which you are extending the time to

file. For more information, see Form 8892.

Private Delivery Services (PDSs)

Filers can use certain PDSs designated by the IRS to meet the

“timely mailing as timely filing” rule for tax returns. Go to

IRS.gov/PDS for the current list of designated services.

The PDS can tell you how to get written proof of the mailing

date.

5

For the IRS mailing address to use if you’re using a PDS, go

to IRS.gov/PDSStreetAddresses.

Caution: PDSs can’t deliver items to P.O. boxes. You must use

the U.S. Postal Service to mail any item to an IRS P.O. box

address.

Where To File

File Form 709 at the following address.

Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service Center

Kansas City, MO 64999

If using a PDS, file at the following address.

Internal Revenue Service

333 W. Pershing Road

Kansas City, MO 64108

Amending Form 709 To Provide

Supplemental Information

If you find that you must make a correction on a return that has

already been filed, and/or provide supplemental information, you

should:

• File another Form 709;

• Check the amended return box in line 15 of Part I—General

Information;

• Include a statement of what has changed, along with the

supporting information; and

• Attach a copy of the original Form 709 that has already been

filed.

For the mailing address for a supplemental Form 709, see

Filing Estate and Gift Tax Returns. File the amended Form 709 at

the following address.

Internal Revenue Service Center

Attn: E&G, Stop 824G

7940 Kentucky Drive

Florence, KY 41042-2915

If using a PDS, file at the following address.

Internal Revenue Service Center

Attn: E&G, Stop 824G

7940 Kentucky Drive

Florence, KY 41042-2915

If you have already been notified that the return has been

selected for examination, you should provide the additional

information directly to the office conducting the examination.

Tip: See the Caution under Part III—Spouse’s Consent on Gifts

to Third Parties, later, before you mail the return.

Adequate Disclosure

Caution: To begin the running of the statute of limitations for a

gift, the gift must be adequately disclosed on Form 709 (or an

attached statement) filed for the year of the gift.

In general, a gift will be considered adequately disclosed if

the return or statement includes the following.

• A full and complete Form 709.

• A description of the transferred property and any

consideration received by the donor.

• The identity of, and relationship between, the donor and

each donee.

• If the property is transferred in trust, the trust’s employer

identification number (EIN) and a brief description of the

6

•

terms of the trust (or a copy of the trust instrument in lieu of

the description).

Either a qualified appraisal or a detailed description of the

method used to determine the fair market value of the gift.

See Regulations sections 301.6501(c)-1(e) and (f) for details,

including what constitutes a qualified appraisal, the information

required if no appraisal is provided, and the information required

for transfers under sections 2701 and 2702.

Penalties

Late filing and late payment. Section 6651 imposes penalties

for both late filing and late payment, unless there is reasonable

cause for the delay.

Reasonable-cause determinations. If you receive a notice

about penalties after you file Form 709, send an explanation and

we will determine if you meet reasonable-cause criteria. Do not

attach an explanation when you file Form 709.

There are also penalties for willful failure to file a return on

time, willful attempt to evade or defeat payment of tax, and

valuation understatements that cause an underpayment of the

tax. A substantial valuation understatement occurs when the

reported value of property entered on Form 709 is 65% or less of

the actual value of the property. A gross valuation

understatement occurs when the reported value listed on the

Form 709 is 40% or less of the actual value of the property.

Return preparer. Penalties may also be applied to tax return

preparers, including gift tax return preparers.

Gift tax return preparers who prepare any return or claim for

refund that reflects an understatement of tax liability due to an

unreasonable position are subject to a penalty equal to the

greater of $1,000 or 50% of the income earned (or to be earned)

for the preparation of each such return.

Gift tax return preparers who prepare any return or claim for

refund with an understatement of tax liability due to willful or

reckless conduct can be penalized $5,000 or 75% of the income

derived (or to be derived) for the preparation of the return.

Gift tax return preparers who prepare any return or claim for

refund are required to furnish a copy to the taxpayer, sign the

return, and provide their preparer tax identification number

(PTIN). Those who fail to do so are subject to a penalty of $50 for

such failure, unless it is shown that such failure is due to

reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect.

See section 6694 and the related regulations and Ann.

2009-15, 2009-11 I.R.B. 687, available at IRS.gov/pub/irs-irbs/

irb09-11.pdf, for more information.

Joint Tenancy

If you buy property with your own funds and the title to the

property is held by you and a donee as joint tenants with right of

survivorship and if either you or the donee may give up those

rights by severing your interest, you have made a gift to the

donee in the amount of half the value of the property.

If you create a joint bank account for yourself and a donee (or

a similar kind of ownership by which you can get back the entire

fund without the donee’s consent), you have made a gift to the

donee when the donee draws on the account for the donee’s

own benefit. The amount of the gift is the amount that the donee

took out without any obligation to repay you.

If you buy a U.S. savings bond registered as payable to

yourself or a donee, there is a gift to the donee when the donee

cashes the bond without any obligation to account to you.

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

Transfer of Certain Life Estates

Received From Spouse

If you received a qualified terminable interest (see Line 12 in the

instructions for Schedule A, later) from your spouse for which a

marital deduction was elected on your spouse’s estate or gift tax

return, you will be subject to the gift tax (and GST tax, if

applicable) if you dispose of all or part of your life income interest

(by gift, sale, or otherwise).

Generally, the entire value of the property transferred will be

treated as a taxable gift less:

1. The amount you received (if any) for the life income interest;

and

2. The amount (if any) determined after the application of

section 2702, valuing certain retained interests at zero, for

the life income interest you retained after the transfer.

That portion of the property’s value that is attributable to the

remainder interest is a gift of a future interest for which no annual

exclusion is allowed. To the extent that you transferred the life

income interest without receiving any value in return, the transfer

is a gift, and you may claim an annual exclusion, treating the

person to whom you transferred the interest as the donee for

purposes of figuring the annual exclusion.

Specific Instructions

Part I—General Information

Line 3. Donor’s Social Security Number

Enter your social security number (SSN), if applicable, or your

individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), but only if you

have previously used the ITIN to file other U.S. tax returns. If you

do not have an SSN or a previously used ITIN, the IRS will

assign an Internal Revenue Service Number (IRSN) to you. If

you have already been assigned an IRSN, please enter the

number on line 3. If you do not have a SSN, ITIN, or IRSN, leave

line 3 blank.

• Became a U.S. citizen for a reason other than being a citizen

of a U.S. territory or being born or residing in a territory.

If you meet the above criteria, enter “United States.”

Otherwise, enter the country of your citizenship.

Line 19

If you and/or your spouse made gifts to third parties, check the

“Yes” box and complete Part III. If you are not married, skip to

line 20.

Line 20. Application of DSUE Amount

If the donor is a citizen or resident of the United States and the

spouse died after December 31, 2010, the donor may be eligible

to use the deceased spousal unused exclusion (DSUE) amount.

The executor of the spouse’s estate must have elected on Form

706 to allow use of the unused exclusion amount. See Part

6—Portability of Deceased Spousal Unused Exclusion in the

Instructions for Form 706. If the executor of the estate made this

election, attach the first four pages of Form 706 filed by the

estate. Include any attachments related to DSUE that were filed

with Form 706 and calculations of any adjustments to the DSUE

amount like audit reports or previously filed Forms 709. See Rev.

Proc. 2022-32, which provides an update to the simplified

method for making a late DSUE election for certain qualifying

taxpayers (superseding Rev. Proc. 2017-34). See also section

2010(c)(4) and the related regulations.

Using the checkboxes provided, indicate whether the donor is

applying or has applied a DSUE amount from a predeceased

spouse to gifts reported on this or a previous Form 709. If so,

complete Schedule C before going to Part II, later.

Line 21. Digital Assets

If you reported on this Form 709 any transfer that includes a

digital asset (or a financial interest in a digital asset), answer

“Yes” to the question on line 21. Do not leave the question

unanswered. You must answer “Yes” or “No” by checking the

appropriate box.

Lines 4–11. Address

Part III—Spouse’s Consent on Gifts to

Third Parties

Foreign address. If you have a foreign address, enter the city

name on the appropriate line. Don’t enter any other information

on that line, but also complete the spaces below that line. Don’t

abbreviate the country name. Follow the country’s practice for

entering the postal code and the name of the province, county, or

state.

Caution: A married couple may not file a joint gift tax return.

However, if after reading the instructions below, you and your

spouse agree to split your gifts, you should file both of your

individual gift tax returns together to help the IRS process the

returns and to avoid correspondence from the IRS.

Enter your current mailing address.

P.O. box. Enter your box number only if your post office doesn’t

deliver mail to your home.

Line 12. Legal Residence (Domicile)

For gift tax purposes, an individual acquires domicile in a place

by living there, for even a brief period of time, with no definite

present intention of later moving.

Enter the state of the United States (including the District of

Columbia) or a foreign country in which you legally reside or are

domiciled at the time of the gift.

Line 13. Citizenship

Enter your citizenship.

The term “citizen of the United States” includes a person who,

at the time of making the gift:

• Was domiciled in a territory of the United States,

• Was a U.S. citizen, and

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

Complete this part only if you checked “Yes” on line 19 of Part

I—General Information.

If you and your spouse both consent, all gifts (including gifts

of property held with your spouse as joint tenants or tenants by

the entirety) either of you make to third parties during the

calendar year will be considered as made one-half by each of

you if all of the following apply.

• You and your spouse were married to one another at the

time of the gift.

• If divorced or widowed after the gift, you did not remarry

during the rest of the calendar year.

• Neither of you was a nonresident not a citizen of the United

States at the time of the gift.

• You did not give your spouse a general power of

appointment over the property interest transferred.

If you transferred property partly to your spouse and partly to

third parties, you can only split the gifts if the interest transferred

to the third parties is ascertainable at the time of the gift.

The consent is effective for the entire calendar year;

therefore, all gifts made by either you or your spouse to third

7

parties during the calendar year (while you were married) must

be split.

If the consent is effective, the liability for the entire gift tax of

each spouse is joint and several.

If you meet these requirements and want your gifts to be

considered made one-half by you and one-half by your spouse,

check the “Yes” box on line 1, and complete lines 2 through 7.

Line 4

If you were married to one another for all of 2025, check the

“Yes” box and skip to line 6. If you were married for only part of

the year, check the “No” box and go to line 5. If you were

divorced or widowed after you made the gift, you cannot elect to

split gifts if you remarried before the end of 2025.

Line 5

Check the box that explains the change in your marital status

during the year and give the date you were married, divorced, or

widowed.

Line 7. Consent of Spouse

You must indicate spousal consent for gifts made to third parties

to be considered as made one-half by each spouse by using the

checkbox, and attaching a Notice of Consent. Your spouse (the

consenting spouse) must sign the Notice of Consent for your

gift-splitting election to be valid. The Notice of Consent must be

signed and dated by the consenting spouse and must include a

statement signifying consent to treat all gifts made to third

parties as having been made one-half by each spouse, such as

“[Name of consenting spouse] elects to treat all gifts made to

third parties as having been made one-half by each spouse.” If

only one spouse is required to file a gift tax return, then only one

Notice of Consent is required, and it must be attached to the

donor spouse’s return. If both spouses are required to file gift tax

returns, then each spouse should execute a Notice of Consent to

be attached to the donor spouse’s return. The Notice of Consent

may generally be signed at any time after the end of the calendar

year. However, there are two exceptions.

1. The consent may not be signified after April 15 following the

end of the year in which the gift was made. But if neither you

nor your spouse has filed a gift tax return for the year on or

before that date, the consent must be made on the first gift

tax return for the year filed by either of you.

2. The consent may not be obtained after a notice of

deficiency for the gift tax for the year has been sent to either

you or your spouse.

The executor for a deceased spouse or the guardian for a

legally incompetent spouse may indicate the consent.

When the Consenting Spouse Must Also File a Gift

Tax Return

In general, if you and your spouse elect gift splitting, then both

spouses must file their own individual gift tax return.

However, only one spouse must file a return if the

requirements of either of the exceptions below are met. In these

exceptions, “gifts” means transfers (or parts of transfers) that do

not qualify for the political organization, educational, or medical

exclusion.

Exception 1. During the calendar year:

• Only one spouse made any gifts,

• The total value of these gifts to each third-party donee does

not exceed $38,000, and

• All of the gifts were of present interests.

8

Exception 2. During the calendar year:

• Only one spouse (the donor spouse) made gifts of more

than $19,000 but not more than $38,000 to any third-party

donee,

• The only gifts made by the other spouse (the consenting

spouse) were gifts of not more than $19,000 to third-party

donees other than those to whom the donor spouse made

gifts, and

• All of the gifts by both spouses were of present interests.

If either of the above exceptions is met, only the donor

spouse must file a return and the consenting spouse signifies

consent on that return.

Because you must complete Schedules A, B, C, and D to fill

out Part II, you will find instructions for these schedules before

the instructions for Part II.

Schedule A. Computation of Taxable

Gifts

Do not enter on Schedule A any gift or part of a gift that qualifies

for the political organization, educational, or medical exclusion.

In the instructions below, “gifts” means transfers (or parts of

transfers) that do not qualify for the political organization,

educational, or medical exclusion.

Line A. Valuation Discounts

If the value of any gift you report in either Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3

of Schedule A includes a discount for lack of marketability, a

minority interest, a fractional interest in real estate, blockage,

market absorption, or for any other reason, answer “Yes” to the

question at the top of Schedule A. Also attach an explanation

giving the basis for the claimed discounts and showing the

amount of the discounts taken.

Line B. Qualified Tuition Programs (529 Plans or

Programs)

If in 2025, you contributed more than $19,000 to a qualified

tuition plan (QTP) on behalf of any one person, you may elect to

treat up to $95,000 of the contribution for that person as if you

had made it ratably over a 5-year period. The election allows you

to apply the annual exclusion to a portion of the contribution in

each of the 5 years, beginning in 2025. You can make this

election for as many separate people as you made QTP

contributions.

You can only apply the election to a maximum of $95,000.

You must report all of your 2025 QTP contributions for any single

person that exceed $95,000 (in addition to any other gifts you

made to that person). For each of the 5 years, you report

one-fifth (20%) of the amount for which you made the election in

Part 1 of Schedule A for gifts to non-skip persons and in Part 2 of

Schedule A for gifts to skip persons.

In column (f) of Part 2 (Schedule A), list the date of the gift as

the calendar year for which you are deemed to have made the

gift (that is, the year of the current Form 709 you are filing). Do

not list the actual year of contribution for subsequent years.

However, if in any of the last 4 years of the election, you did

not make any other gifts that would require you to file a Form

709, you do not need to file Form 709 to report that year’s portion

of the election amount.

Example. In 2025, Pat contributed $100,000 to a QTP for the

benefit of Max (a non-skip person for GST tax purposes). Pat

elects to treat $95,000 of this contribution as having been made

ratably over a 5-year period. Accordingly, for 2025, Pat reports

the following.

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

$5,000

+

$19,000

$24,000

(the amount of the contribution that exceeded

$95,000)

(the 1/5 portion from the election)

the total gift to A listed in Part 1 of Schedule A for

2025

In 2026, Pat gives a gift of $20,000 cash to Alex (a non-skip

person for GST tax purposes) and no other gifts. On Pat’s Form

709, Pat reports in Part 1 of Schedule A the $20,000 gift to Alex

and an $19,000 gift to Max (the one-fifth portion of the 2025 gift

that is treated as made in 2026). In column (f) of Part 1

(Schedule A), Pat lists “2026” as the date of the gift.

Pat makes no gifts in 2027, 2028, or 2029. Pat is not required

to file Form 709 in any of those years to report the one-fifth

portion of the QTP gift because Pat is not otherwise required to

file Form 709.

You make the election by checking the box on line B at the top

of Schedule A. The election must be made for the calendar year

in which the contribution is made. Also attach an explanation that

includes the following.

• The total amount contributed per individual beneficiary.

• The amount for which the election is being made.

• The name of the individual for whom the contribution was

made.

If you are electing gift splitting, apply the gift-splitting rules

before applying the QTP rules. Each spouse would then decide

individually whether to make this QTP election.

Caution: Contributions to QTPs do not qualify for the education

exclusion.

How To Complete Schedule A, Parts 1, 2, and 3

After you determine which gifts you made in 2025 that are

subject to the gift tax, list them on Schedule A. You must divide

these gifts between:

1. Part 1—those subject only to the gift tax (gifts made to

nonskip persons—see Part 1, later),

2. Part 2—those subject to both the gift and GST taxes (gifts

made to skip persons—see Gifts Subject to Both Gift and

GST Taxes and Part 2, later), and

3. Part 3—those subject only to the gift tax at this time but

which could later be subject to GST tax (gifts that are

indirect skips—see Part 3, later).

If you need more space, attach a separate sheet using the

same format as Schedule A.

Tip: Use the following guidelines when entering gifts on

Schedule A.

• Enter a gift only once—in Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3.

• Do not enter any gift or part of a gift that qualified for the

political organization, educational, or medical exclusion.

• Enter gifts under “Gifts made by spouse” only if you have

•

chosen to split gifts with your spouse and your spouse is

required to file a Form 709 (see Part III, earlier).

In column (g), enter the full value of the gift (including those

made by your spouse, if applicable). If you have chosen to

split gifts, that one-half portion of the gift is entered in

column (h).

you must enter all such gifts that you made during the year to or

on behalf of that donee, including those gifts that will be

excluded under the annual exclusion. If the total is $19,000 or

less, you need not enter on Schedule A any gifts (except gifts of

future interests) that you made to that donee. Enter these gifts in

the top half of Part 1, 2, or 3, as applicable.

Gift splitting elected. Enter on Schedule A the entire value of

every gift you made during the calendar year while you were

married, even if the gift’s value will be less than $19,000 after it is

split in column (h) of Part 1, 2, or 3 of Schedule A.

Gifts made by spouse. If you elected gift splitting and your

spouse made gifts, list those gifts in the space below “Gifts made

by spouse” in Part 1, 2, or 3. Report these gifts in the same way

you report gifts you made.

Gifts to Your Spouse

Except for the gifts described below, you do not need to enter

any of your gifts to your spouse on Schedule A.

Terminable interests. Terminable interests are defined in the

instructions for Part 4, line 4. If all the terminable interests you

gave to your spouse qualify as life estates with power of

appointment (defined under Life estate with power of

appointment, later), you do not need to enter any of them on

Schedule A.

However, if you gave your spouse any terminable interest that

does not qualify as a life estate with power of appointment, you

must report on Schedule A all gifts of terminable interests you

made to your spouse during the year.

Charitable remainder trusts. If you make a gift to a charitable

remainder trust and your spouse is the only noncharitable

beneficiary (other than yourself), the interest you gave to your

spouse is not considered a terminable interest and, therefore,

should not be shown on Schedule A. See section 2523(g)(1).

For definitions and rules concerning these trusts, see section

2056(b)(8)(B).

Future interest. Generally, you should not report a gift of a

future interest to your spouse unless the future interest is also a

terminable interest that is required to be reported as described

earlier. However, if you gave a gift of a future interest to your

spouse and you are required to report the gift on Form 709

because you gave the present interest to a donee other than

your spouse, then you should enter the entire gift, including the

future interest given to your spouse, on Schedule A. You should

use the rules under Gifts Subject to Both Gift and GST Taxes,

later, to determine whether to enter the gift on Schedule A, Part

1, 2, or 3.

Spouses who are not U.S. citizens. If your spouse is not a

U.S. citizen and you gave your spouse a gift of a future interest,

you must report on Schedule A all gifts to your spouse for the

year. If all gifts to your spouse were present interests, do not

report on Schedule A any gifts to your spouse if the total of such

gifts for the year does not exceed $190,000 and all gifts in

excess of $19,000 would qualify for a marital deduction if your

spouse were a U.S. citizen (see the instructions for Schedule A,

Part 4, line 4). If the gifts exceed $190,000, you must report all of

the gifts even though some may be excluded.

Gifts Subject to Both Gift and GST

Taxes

Gifts to Donees Other Than Your Spouse

Definitions

Gift splitting not elected. If the total gifts of present interests

to any donee are more than $19,000 in the calendar year, then

Direct skip. The GST tax you must report on Form 709 is that

imposed only on inter vivos direct skips. An inter vivos direct skip

is a transfer that is:

• Subject to the gift tax,

You must always enter all gifts of future interests that you made

during the calendar year regardless of their value.

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

9

• Of an interest in property, and

• Made to a skip person.

(donee) is determined by subtracting the number of

generations between the grandparent and the spouse (or

former spouse) from the number of generations between

the grandparent and the descendant (donee).

All three requirements must be met before the gift is subject to

the GST tax.

A gift is “subject to the gift tax” if you are required to list it on

Schedule A of Form 709. However, if you make a nontaxable gift

(which is a direct skip) to a trust for the benefit of an individual,

this transfer is subject to the GST tax unless:

3. A person who at any time was married to a person

described in (1) or (2) above is assigned to the generation

of that person. A person who at any time was married to the

donor is assigned to the donor’s generation.

1. During the lifetime of the beneficiary, no corpus or income

may be distributed to anyone other than the beneficiary; and

4. A relationship by adoption or half-blood is treated as a

relationship by whole-blood.

2. If the beneficiary dies before the termination of the trust, the

assets of the trust will be included in the gross estate of the

beneficiary.

A person who is not assigned to a generation according to

(1), (2), (3), or (4) above is assigned to a generation based on

the person’s birth date as follows.

Note: If the property transferred in the direct skip would have

been includible in the donor’s estate if the donor died

immediately after the transfer, see Transfers Subject to an Estate

Tax Inclusion Period (ETIP), earlier.

To determine if a gift “is of an interest in property” and “is

made to a skip person,” you must first determine if the donee is a

“natural person” or a “trust,” as defined below.

Trust. For purposes of the GST tax, a trust includes not only an

ordinary trust, but also any other arrangement (other than an

estate) that although not explicitly a trust, has substantially the

same effect as a trust. For example, a trust includes life estates

with remainders, terms for years, and insurance and annuity

contracts. A transfer of property that is conditional on the

occurrence of an event is a transfer in trust.

Interest in property. If a gift is made to a natural person, it is

always considered a gift of an interest in property for purposes of

the GST tax.

If a gift is made to a trust, a natural person will have an

interest in the property transferred to the trust if that person

either has a present right to receive income or corpus from the

trust (such as an income interest for life) or is a permissible

current recipient of income or corpus from the trust (for example,

possesses a general power of appointment).

Skip person. A donee, who is a natural person, is a skip person

if that donee is assigned to a generation that is two or more

generations below the generation assignment of the donor. See

Determining the Generation of a Donee, later.

A donee that is a trust is a skip person if all the interests in the

property transferred to the trust (as defined above) are held by

skip persons.

A trust will also be a skip person if there are no interests in the

property transferred to the trust held by any person, and future

distributions or terminations from the trust can be made only to

skip persons.

Nonskip person. A nonskip person is any donee who is not a

skip person.

Determining the Generation of a Donee

Generally, a generation is determined along family lines as

follows.

1. If the donee is a lineal descendant of a grandparent of the

donor (for example, the donor’s cousin, niece, nephew,

etc.), the number of generations between the donor and the

descendant (donee) is determined by subtracting the

number of generations between the grandparent and the

donor from the number of generations between the

grandparent and the descendant (donee).

2. If the donee is a lineal descendant of a grandparent of a

spouse (or former spouse) of the donor, the number of

generations between the donor and the descendant

10

1. A person who was born not more than 121/2 years after the

donor is in the donor’s generation.

2. A person born more than 121/2 years, but not more than

371/2 years, after the donor is in the first generation younger

than the donor.

3. Similar rules apply for a new generation every 25 years.

If more than one of the rules for assigning generations apply

to a donee, that donee is generally assigned to the youngest of

the generations that would apply.

If an estate, trust, partnership, corporation, or other entity

(other than governmental entities and certain charitable

organizations and trusts, described in sections 511(a)(2) and

511(b)(2), as discussed later) is a donee, then each person who

indirectly receives the gift through the entity is treated as a

donee and is assigned to a generation as explained in the above

rules.

Charitable organizations and trusts, described in sections

511(a)(2) and 511(b)(2), and governmental entities are assigned

to the donor’s generation. Transfers to such organizations are

therefore not subject to the GST tax. These gifts should always

be listed in Part 1 of Schedule A.

Generation assignments under Notice 2017-15. Notice

2017-15 permits a taxpayer to reduce the GST exemption

allocated to transfers that were made to or for the benefit of

transferees whose generation assignment is changed as a result

of the Windsor decision. A taxpayer’s GST exemption that was

allocated to a transfer to a transferee (or a trust for the sole

benefit of such transferee) whose generation assignment should

have been determined on the basis of a familial relationship as

the result of the Windsor decision, and are nonskip persons, is

deemed void. For additional information, go to IRS.gov/

Businesses/Small-Businesses-Self-Employed/Estate-and-GiftTaxes.

Charitable Remainder Trusts

Gifts in the form of charitable remainder annuity trusts, charitable

remainder unitrusts, and pooled income funds are not transfers

to skip persons and are therefore not direct skips. You should list

these gifts in Part 1 of Schedule A if none of the life beneficiaries

are skip persons. If a life beneficiary is a skip person, list these

gifts on Part 3 of Schedule A.

Generation Assignment Where Intervening

Parent Is Deceased

If you made a gift to your grandchild and at the time you made

the gift, the grandchild’s parent (who is your or your spouse’s or

your former spouse’s child) is deceased, then for purposes of

generation assignment, your grandchild is considered to be your

child rather than your grandchild. Your grandchild’s children will

be treated as your grandchildren rather than your

great-grandchildren.

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

This rule is also applied to your lineal descendants below the

level of grandchild. For example, if your grandchild is deceased,

your great-grandchildren who are lineal descendants of the

deceased grandchild are considered your grandchildren for

purposes of the GST tax.

This special rule may also apply in other cases of the death of

a parent of the transferee. If property is transferred to a

descendant of a parent of the transferor and that person’s parent

(who is a lineal descendant of the parent of the transferor) is

deceased at the time the transfer is subject to gift or estate tax,

then for purposes of generation assignment, the individual is

treated as a member of the generation that is one generation

below the lower of:

• The transferor’s generation, or

• The generation assignment of the youngest living ancestor

of the individual who is also a descendant of the parent of

the transferor.

The same rules apply to the generation assignment of any

descendant of the individual.

This rule does not apply to a transfer to an individual who is

not a lineal descendant of the transferor if the transferor at the

time of the transfer has any living lineal descendants.

If any transfer of property to a trust would have been a direct

skip except for this generation-assignment rule, then the rule

also applies to transfers from the trust attributable to such

property.

Ninety-day rule. For assigning individuals to generations for

purposes of the GST tax, any individual who dies no later than

90 days after a transfer occurring by reason of the death of the

transferor is treated as having predeceased the transferor. The

90-day rule applies to transfers occurring on or after July 18,

2005. See Regulations section 26.2651-1(a)(2)(iii) for more

information.

Examples

The GST rules can be illustrated by the following examples.

Example 1. You give your house to your daughter with the

remainder then passing to your daughter’s children. This gift is

made to a “trust” even though there is no explicit trust instrument.

The interest in the property transferred (the present right to use

the house) is transferred to a nonskip person (your daughter).

Therefore, the trust is not a skip person because there is an

interest in the transferred property that is held by a nonskip

person, and the gift is not a direct skip. The transfer is an indirect

skip, however, because on the death of your daughter, a

termination of your daughter’s interest in the trust will occur that

may be subject to the GST tax. See Part 3, later, for a discussion

of how to allocate GST exemption to such a trust.

purpose interests in trusts are defined only as present interests,

all of the interests in this trust are held by skip persons (the

children’s interests are future interests). Therefore, the trust is a

skip person and you should list the entire amount you transferred

to the trust in Part 2 of Schedule A even though some of the

trust’s ultimate beneficiaries are nonskip persons.

Part 1—Gifts Subject Only to Gift Tax

List in Part 1 gifts subject only to the gift tax. Generally, all of the

gifts you made to your spouse (that are required to be listed, as

described earlier), to your children, and to charitable

organizations are not subject to the GST tax and should

therefore be listed only in Part 1.

Group the gifts in four categories.

• Gifts made to your spouse.

• Gifts made to third parties that are to be split with your

spouse.

• Charitable gifts (if you are not splitting gifts with your

spouse).

• Other gifts.

If a transfer results in gifts to two or more individuals (such as a

life estate to one with remainder to the other), list the gift to each

separately.

Number and describe all gifts (including charitable, public,

and similar gifts) in the columns provided in Schedule A.

Columns (b) Through (d)

Describe each gift in enough detail so that the property can be

easily identified, as explained below.

For real estate, give:

• A legal description of each parcel;

• The street number, name, and area if the property is located

in a city; and

• A short statement of any improvements made to the

property.

For bonds, give:

• The number of bonds transferred;

• The principal amount of each bond;

• Name of obligor;

• Date of maturity;

• Rate of interest;

• Date or dates when interest is payable;

• Series number, if there is more than one issue;

• Exchanges where listed or, if unlisted, give the location of

the principal business office of the corporation; and

• Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures

(CUSIP) number. The CUSIP number is a nine-digit number

assigned by the American Banking Association to traded

securities.

Example 2. You give $100,000 to your grandchild. This gift is

a direct skip that is not made in trust. You should list it in Part 2 of

Schedule A.

Example 3. You establish a trust that is required to

accumulate income for 10 years and then pay its income to your

grandchildren for their lives and upon their deaths distribute the

corpus to their children. Because the trust has no current

beneficiaries, there are no present interests in the property

transferred to the trust. All of the persons to whom the trust can

make future distributions (including distributions upon the

termination of interests in property held in trust) are skip persons

(that is, your grandchildren and great-grandchildren). Therefore,

the trust itself is a skip person and you should list the gift in Part

2 of Schedule A.

Example 4. You establish a trust that pays all of its income to

your grandchildren for 10 years. At the end of 10 years, the

corpus is to be distributed to your children. Because for this

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

For stocks:

• Give number of shares;

• State whether common or preferred;

• If preferred, give the issue, par value, quotation at which

returned, and exact name of corporation;

• If unlisted on a principal exchange, give the location of the

•

•

principal business office of the corporation, the state in

which incorporated, and the date of incorporation;

If listed, give principal exchange; and

CUSIP number.

For interests in property based on the length of a person’s life,

give the date of birth of the person. If you transfer any interest in

a closely held entity, provide the EIN of the entity.

11

For life insurance policies, give the name of the insurer and

the policy number.

Clearly identify in the description column which gifts create

the opening of an ETIP as described under Transfers Subject to

an Estate Tax Inclusion Period (ETIP), earlier. Describe the

interest that is creating the ETIP. An allocation of GST exemption

to property subject to an ETIP that is made prior to the close of

the ETIP becomes effective no earlier than the date of the close

of the ETIP. See Schedule D. Computation of GST Tax, later.

Column (e). Donor’s Adjusted Basis of Gift

Show the basis you would use for income tax purposes if the gift

were sold or exchanged. Generally, this means cost plus

improvements, less applicable depreciation, amortization, and

depletion.

For more information on adjusted basis, see Pub. 551, Basis

of Assets.

Columns (f) and (g). Date of Gift and Value at Date

of Gift

The value of a gift is the fair market value (FMV) of the property

on the date the gift is made (valuation date). The FMV is the

price at which the property would change hands between a

willing buyer and a willing seller, when neither is forced to buy or

to sell, and when both have reasonable knowledge of all relevant

facts. FMV may not be determined by a forced sale price, nor by

the sale price of the item in a market other than that in which the

item is most commonly sold to the public. The location of the

item must be taken into account whenever appropriate.

The FMV of a stock or bond (whether listed or unlisted) is the

mean between the highest and lowest selling prices quoted on

the valuation date. If only the closing selling prices are available,

then the FMV is the mean between the quoted closing selling

price on the valuation date and on the trading day before the

valuation date. If there were no sales on the valuation date, figure

the FMV as follows.

1. Find the mean between the highest and lowest selling

prices on the nearest trading date before and the nearest

trading date after the valuation date. Both trading dates

must be reasonably close to the valuation date.

2. Prorate the difference between mean prices to the valuation

date.

3. Add or subtract (whichever applies) the prorated part of the

difference to or from the mean price figured for the nearest

trading date before the actual valuation date.

If no actual sales were made reasonably close to the

valuation date, make the same computation using the mean

between the bona fide bid and the asked prices instead of sales

prices. If actual sales prices or bona fide bid and asked prices

are available within a reasonable period of time before the

valuation date but not after the valuation date, or vice versa, use

the mean between the highest and lowest sales prices or bid and

asked prices as the FMV.

Stock of close corporations or inactive stock must be valued

on the basis of net worth, earnings, earning and dividend

capacity, and other relevant factors.

Generally, the best indication of the value of real property is

the price paid for the property in an arm’s-length transaction on

or before the valuation date. If there has been no such

transaction, use the comparable sales method. In comparing

12

similar properties, consider differences in the date of the sale,

and the size, condition, and location of the properties, and make

all appropriate adjustments.

The value of all annuities, life estates, terms for years,

remainders, or reversions is generally the present value on the

date of the gift.

Sections 2701 and 2702 provide special valuation rules to

determine the amount of the gift when a donor transfers an

equity interest in a corporation or partnership (section 2701) or

makes a gift in trust (section 2702). The rules only apply if,

immediately after the transfer, the donor (or an applicable family

member) holds an applicable retained interest in the corporation

or partnership, or retains an interest in the trust. For details, see

sections 2701 and 2702, and their regulations.

Column (h). Split Gifts

Enter an amount in this column only if you have chosen to split

gifts with your spouse.

Split Gifts—Gifts Made by Spouses

If you elected to split gifts with your spouse and your spouse has

given a gift(s) that is being split with you, enter in this area of Part

1 information on the gift(s) made by your spouse. If only you

made gifts and you are splitting them with your spouse, do not

make an entry in this area.

Generally, if you elect to split your gifts, you must split all gifts

made by you and your spouse to third-party donees. The only

exception is if you gave your spouse a general power of

appointment over a gift you made.

Supplemental Documents

To support the value of your gifts, you must provide information

showing how it was determined.

For stock of close corporations or inactive stock, attach

balance sheets, particularly the one nearest the date of the gift,

and statements of net earnings or operating results and

dividends paid for each of the 5 preceding years. In lieu of this

information, you may attach an appraisal described in

Regulations section 301.6501(c)-1(f)(3).

For each life insurance policy, attach Form 712, Life

Insurance Statement.

Note for single-premium or paid-up policies. In certain

situations, for example, where the surrender value of the policy

exceeds its replacement cost, the true economic value of the

policy will be greater than the amount shown on line 59 of Form

712. In these situations, report the full economic value of the

policy on Schedule A. See Rev. Rul. 78-137, 1978-1 C.B. 280,

for details.

If the gift was made by means of a trust, attach a certified or

verified copy of the trust instrument to the return on which you

report your first transfer to the trust. However, to report

subsequent transfers to the trust, you may attach a brief

description of the terms of the trust or a copy of the trust

instrument.

Also attach any appraisal used to determine the value of real

estate or other property.

If you do not attach this information, Schedule A must include

a full explanation of how value was determined.

Part 2—Direct Skips

List in Part 2 only those gifts that are currently subject to both the

gift and GST taxes. You must list the gifts in Part 2 in the

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

chronological order that you made them. Number, describe, and

value the gifts as described in the instructions for Part 1.

If you made a transfer to a trust that was a direct skip, list the

entire gift as one line entry in Part 2.

Column (j). Section 2632(b) Election Out

If you elect under section 2632(b)(3) to not have the automatic

allocation rules of section 2632(b) apply to a transfer, enter a

check in column (j) next to the transfer. You must also attach a

statement to Form 709 clearly describing the transaction and the

extent to which the automatic allocation is not to apply. Reporting

a direct skip on a timely filed Form 709 and paying the GST tax

on the transfer will qualify as such a statement.

How to report GSTs after the close of an ETIP. If you are

reporting a GST that was subject to an ETIP (provided the ETIP

closed as a result of something other than the death of the

transferor; see Form 706), do not include the transfer subject to

an ETIP on Schedule A. Rather, report the transfer subject to an

ETIP on Schedule D. See Schedule D, Part

1—Generation-Skipping Transfers, later. Report all other gifts

made during the year on Schedule A as you normally would.

Split Gifts—Gifts Made by Spouse

See this heading under Part 1.

Part 3—Indirect Skips and Other Transfers in

Trust

Some gifts made to trusts are subject only to gift tax at the time

of the transfer but may later be subject to GST tax. The GST tax

could apply either at the time of a distribution from the trust, at

the termination of the trust, or both.

Section 2632(c) defines indirect skips and applies special

rules to the allocation of GST exemption to such transfers. In

general, an indirect skip is a transfer of property that is subject to

gift tax (other than a direct skip) and is made to a GST trust. A

GST trust is a trust that could have a GST with respect to the

transferor, unless the trust provides for certain distributions of

trust corpus to nonskip persons. See section 2632(c)(3)(B) for

details.

List in Part 3 those gifts that are indirect skips as defined in

section 2632(c) or may later be subject to GST tax. This includes

indirect skips for which election 2, described below, will be made

in the current year or has been made in a previous year. You

must list the gifts in Part 3 in the chronological order that you

made them.

Column (n). Section 2632(c) Election

Section 2632(c) provides for the automatic allocation of the

donor’s unused GST exemption to indirect skips. This section

also sets forth three different elections you may make regarding

the allocation of exemption.

Election 1. You may elect not to have the automatic

allocation rules apply to the current transfer made to a

particular trust.

Election 2. You may elect not to have the automatic rules

apply to both the current transfer and any and all future

transfers made to a particular trust.

Election 3. You may elect to treat any trust as a GST trust for

purposes of the automatic allocation rules.

See section 2632(c)(5) for details.

When to make an election. Election 1 is timely made if it is

made on a timely filed gift tax return for the year the transfer was

made or was deemed to have been made.

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

Elections 2 and 3 may be made on a timely filed gift tax return

for the year for which the election is to become effective.

To make one of these elections, check column (n) next to the

transfer to which the election applies. You must also attach an

explanation as described below. If you are making election 2 or 3

on a return on which the transfer is not reported, simply attach

the statement described below.

If you are reporting a transfer to a trust for which election 2 or

3 was made on a previously filed return, do not make an entry in

column (n) for that transfer and do not attach a statement unless

you are terminating the election.

Attachment. Attach a statement to Form 709 that describes the

election you are making (or terminating) and clearly identifies the

trusts and/or transfers to which the election applies.

Split Gifts—Gifts Made by Spouse

See this heading under Part 1.

Part 4—Taxable Gift Reconciliation

Line 1

Enter only gifts of the donor. If gift splitting has been elected,

enter only the value of the gift that is attributable to the spouse

that is filing the return.

Line 2

Enter the total annual exclusions you are claiming for the gifts

listed on Schedule A. See Annual Exclusion, earlier. If you split a

gift with your spouse, the annual exclusion you claim against that

gift may not be more than the smaller of your half of the gift or

$19,000.

Deductions

Line 4. Marital Deduction

Enter all of the gifts to your U.S. citizen spouse that you listed on

Schedule A and for which you are claiming a marital deduction.

Enter the total value of items on Parts 1 and 3 of Schedule A for

which the box in column (l) is checked. Do not enter any gift that

you did not include on Schedule A.

Tip: Do not enter on line 4 any gifts to your spouse who was not

a U.S. citizen at the time of the gift.

You may deduct all gifts of nonterminable interests made

during the year that you entered on Schedule A regardless of

amount, and certain gifts of terminable interests as outlined

below.

Terminable interests. Generally, you cannot take the marital

deduction if the gift to your spouse is a terminable interest. In

most instances, a terminable interest is nondeductible if

someone other than the donee spouse will have an interest in

the property following the termination of the donee spouse’s

interest. Some examples of terminable interests are:

• A life estate,

• An estate for a specified number of years, or

• Any other property interest that after a period of time will

terminate or fail.

If you transfer an interest to your spouse as sole joint tenant

with yourself or as a tenant by the entirety, the interest is not

considered a terminable interest just because the tenancy may

be severed.

13

Life estate with power of appointment. You may deduct,

without an election, a gift of a terminable interest if all four

requirements below are met.

•

1. Your spouse is entitled for life to all of the income from the

entire interest.

2. The income is paid yearly or more often.

3. Your spouse has the unlimited power, while alive or by will,

to appoint the entire interest in all circumstances.

4. No part of the entire interest is subject to another person’s

power of appointment (except to appoint it to your spouse).

If either the right to income or the power of appointment given

to your spouse pertains only to a specific portion of a property

interest, the marital deduction is allowed only to the extent that

the rights of your spouse meet all four of the above conditions.

For example, if your spouse is to receive all of the income from

the entire interest, but only has a power to appoint one-half of the

entire interest, then only one-half qualifies for the marital

deduction.

A partial interest in property is treated as a specific portion of

an entire interest only if the rights of your spouse to the income

and to the power are a fractional or percentile share of the entire

property interest. This means that the interest or share will reflect

any increase or decrease in the value of the entire property

interest. If the spouse is entitled to receive a specified sum of

income annually, the capital amount that would produce such a

sum will be considered the specific portion from which the

spouse is entitled to receive the income.

Election to deduct qualified terminable interest property

(QTIP). You may elect to deduct a gift of a terminable interest if

it meets requirements (1), (2), and (4) earlier, even though it

does not meet requirement (3).

You make this election simply by listing the QTIP on

Schedule A and deducting its value from Schedule A, Part 4,

line 4, checking the box in column (l). You are presumed to have

made the election for all qualified property that you both list and

deduct on Schedule A. You may not make the election on a

late-filed Form 709.

Special QTIP election. If you elect QTIP treatment for any gifts

in trust listed on Schedule A, then you may also check column

(m) to elect to treat the entire trust as non-QTIP for purposes of

the GST tax. The election must be made for the entire trust that

contains the particular gift involved on this return. Be sure to

identify the item number of the specific gift for which you are

making this special QTIP election.

Line 5

Enter the amount of the annual exclusions that were claimed for

the gifts listed on line 4.

Line 7. Charitable Deduction

You may deduct from the total gifts made during the calendar

year all gifts you gave to or for the use of:

• The United States, a state or political subdivision of a state,

or the District of Columbia for exclusively public purposes;

• Any corporation, trust, community chest, fund, or foundation

organized and operated only for religious, charitable,

scientific, literary, or educational purposes, or to prevent

cruelty to children or animals, or to foster national or

international amateur sports competition (if none of its

activities involve providing athletic equipment unless it is a

qualified amateur sports organization), as long as no part of

the earnings benefits any one person, no substantial

14

•

propaganda is produced, and no lobbying or campaigning

for any candidate for public office is done;

A fraternal society, order, or association operating under a

lodge system, if the transferred property is to be used only

for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational

purposes, including the encouragement of art and the

prevention of cruelty to children or animals; or

Any war veterans’ organization organized in the United

States (or any of its territories), or any of its auxiliary

departments or local chapters or posts, as long as no part of

any of the earnings benefits any one person.

On line 7, show your total charitable, public, or similar gifts

(minus annual exclusions allowed). Enter the total value of items

on Parts 1 and 3 of Schedule A for which the box in column (k) is

checked.

Line 10. GST Tax

If GST tax is due on any gift which is a direct skip, the amount of

the gift shall be increased by the amount of GST tax imposed on

the direct skip. See section 2515.

If you entered gifts on Part 2, or if you and your spouse

elected gift splitting and your spouse made gifts subject to the

GST tax that you are required to show on your Form 709,

complete Schedule D, and enter on line 10 the total from

Schedule D, Part 3, column (g). Otherwise, enter zero on line 10.

Line 12. Election Out of QTIP Treatment of

Annuities

Section 2523(f)(6) creates an automatic QTIP election for gifts of

joint and survivor annuities where the spouses are the only

possible recipients of the annuity prior to the death of the last

surviving spouse.

The donor spouse can elect out of QTIP treatment, however,

by checking the box on line 12 and entering the item number

from Schedule A for the annuities for which you are making the

election. Any annuities entered on line 12 cannot also be entered

on line 4 of Schedule A, Part 4. Any such annuities that are not

listed on line 12 must be entered on line 4 of Schedule A, Part 4.

If there is more than one such joint and survivor annuity, you are

not required to make the election for all of them. Once made, the

election is irrevocable.

Schedule B. Gifts From Prior Periods

If you did not file gift tax returns for previous periods, check the

“No” box on page 1 of Form 709, line 18a, of Part I—General

Information. If you filed gift tax returns for previous periods,

check the “Yes” box on line 18a and complete Schedule B by

listing the years or quarters in chronological order as described

below. If you need more space, attach a separate sheet using

the same format as Schedule B.

Caution. Complete Schedule A before beginning Schedule B.

Column (a)

If you filed returns for gifts made before 1971 or after 1981, show

the calendar years in column (a). If you filed returns for gifts

made after 1970 and before 1982, show the calendar quarters.

Column (b)

In column (b), identify the IRS office where you filed the returns.

If you have changed your name, be sure to list any other names

under which the returns were filed. If there was any other

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

variation in the names under which you filed, such as the use of

full given names instead of initials, please explain.

Column (c)

To determine the amount of applicable credit (formerly unified

credit) used for gifts made after 1976, use the Worksheet for

Schedule B, Column (c) (Credit Allowable for Prior Periods),

unless your prior gifts total $500,000 or less.

Prior gifts totaling $500,000 or less. In column (c), enter

the amount of applicable credit actually applied in the prior

period.

Prior gifts totaling over $500,000. See Redetermining the

Applicable Credit, later.

Column (d)

Column (e)

In column (e), show the correct amount (the amount finally

determined) of the taxable gifts for each earlier period.

See Regulations section 25.2504-2 for rules regarding the

final determination of the value of a gift.

Note. Amounts shown in column (e) should reflect all taxable

gifts, even if no gift tax was paid due to the applicable (formerly

unified) credit.

Redetermining the Applicable Credit

To redetermine the applicable credit for prior gifts in excess of

$500,000, use the Worksheet for Schedule B, Column (c) (Credit

Allowable for Prior Periods).

In column (d), enter the amount of specific exemption claimed for

gifts made in periods ending before January 1, 1977.

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

15

Instructions for Worksheet for Schedule B, Column (c) (Credit Allowable for Prior Periods)

Beginning with the earliest year after 1976 in which gifts using a credit amount were made, determine the credit amount (at current rates) for each

quarter/year as follows.

Column

A

Period

Enter the quarter/year of the prior gift(s). Pre-1977 gifts will be on the first row.

B

Taxable Gifts for Current Period

Enter the amount of all taxable gifts for the year in column A. The total of all pre-1977 gifts should

be combined in the first row.

C

Taxable Gifts for Prior Periods

Enter the amount from column D of the previous row.

D

Cumulative Taxable Gifts Including Current Period

Enter the sum of columns B and C from the current row.

E

Tax on Gifts for Prior Periods

Enter the amount from column F of the previous row.

F

Tax on Cumulative Gifts Including Current Period

Enter the tax based on the amount in column D of the current row using the Table for Computing

Gift Tax.

G

Tax on Gifts for Current Period

Subtract the amount in column E from the amount in column F of the current row and enter here.

H

Used DSUE Amount From Predeceased Spouse(s) and

Restored Exclusion Amount

Enter the sum of (a) total DSUE amount (if any) received from the estate of the donor’s last

deceased spouse and used by the donor in prior periods and the current period, and (b)

Restored Exclusion Amount (if any). DSUE may not be applied to gifts made before the DSUE

arose. Restored Exclusion Amount may not be applied to gifts made before the taxpayer restored

the exclusion expended on a taxable gift to the taxpayer’s same-sex spouse. The Restored

Exclusion Amount is applied in the first year that the taxpayer restores the exclusion and every

subsequent year.

I

Basic Exclusion Amount for Year of Gift

Enter the exclusion amount corresponding with the year listed in column A of the current row.

(See Table of Basic Exclusion and Credit Amounts.)

J

Applicable Exclusion Amount

Add the amounts in columns H and I of the current row and enter here.

K

Applicable Credit Amount (Based on Amount in Column J)

L

Applicable Credit Amount Used in Prior Periods

Using the Table for Computing Gift Tax, determine the credit corresponding to the amount in

column J of the current row and enter here. For each row in column K, subtract 20% of any

amount allowed as a specific exemption for gifts made after September 8, 1976, and before

January 1, 1977.

Enter the total of the amounts in columns L and N of the previous row.

M

Available Credit in Current Period

Subtract the amount in column L from the amount in column K of the current row and enter here.

N

Credit Allowable

Enter the lesser of column G or column M of the current row.

Repeat this process for each prior year with taxable gifts. Do not enter less than zero.

Worksheet for Schedule B, Column (c) (Credit

Allowable for Prior Periods)

Prior Years Credit Recalculation (for Form 709, Schedule B, Column (c))

(Keep for your records.)

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

Period

Taxable

Gifts for

Current

Period

Taxable

Gifts for

Prior

Periods1

Cumulative

Taxable Gifts

Including

Current

Period

(Col. B + Col.

C)

Tax on

Gifts for

Prior

Periods

(Col. C)2 3

Tax on

Cumulative

Gifts

Including

Current

Period (Col.

D)3

Tax on

Gifts for

Current

Period

(Col. F –

Col. E)

H

I

J

DSUE From

Basic

Applicable

PreExclusion

Exclusion

deceased for the Year

Amount

Spouse(s)

of Gift4

(Col. H +

and

Col. I)

Restored

Exclusion

Amount

K

L

M

Applicable

Applicable

Available

Credit

Credit

Credit in

Amount

Amount

Current

Based on Used in Prior

Period

Column J3 5

Periods3 6 (Col. K – Col.

L)

N

Credit

Allowable

(lesser of

Col. G or

Col. M)

Pre-1977

YYYY

YYYY

YYYY

Total Applicable Credit Used in Prior Periods (Enter the total of column N on Schedule B, line 1, column (c)) :

Column C: Enter amount from column D of the previous row.

Column E: Compute the tax on the amount in column C or enter amount from column F of the previous row.

To compute tax or credit amount, see Table for Computing Gift Tax.

4

For years prior to 2010, the basic exclusion amount equals the applicable exclusion amount.

5

For each row in column K, subtract 20% of any amount allowed as a specific exemption for gifts made after September 8, 1976, and before January 1, 1977.

6

Enter the total of columns L and N of the previous row.

1

2

3

16

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

Example 1. Prior Years Credit Recalculation (for Form 709, Schedule B, Column (c))

(Three post-1976 years involved. All have the same maximum credit available. Tentative tax exceeds available credit.)

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

Period

Taxable

Gifts for

Current

Period

Taxable

Gifts for

Prior

Periods1

Cumulative

Taxable Gifts

Including

Current

Period

(Col. B + Col.

C)

Tax on

Gifts for

Prior

Periods

(Col. C)2 3

Tax on

Cumulative

Gifts

Including

Current

Period (Col.

D)3

Tax on

Gifts for

Current

Period

(Col. F –

Col. E)

DSUE From

Predeceased

Spouse(s)

and

Restored

Exclusion

Amount

Basic

Exclusion

for Year of

the Gift4

Applicable

Exclusion

Amount

(Col. H +

Col. I)

K

L

M

N

Applicable

Applicable

Available

Credit

Credit

Credit in

Amount

Amount

Current

Based on Used in Prior

Period

35

36

Column J

Periods

(Col. K – Col.

L)

Credit

Allowable

(lesser of

Col. G or

Col. M)

Pre-1977

2004

800,000

0

800,000

0

267,800

267,800

0

1,000,000

1,000,000

345,800

0

345,800

267,800

2007

300,000

800,000

1,100,000

267,800

385,800

118,000

0

1,000,000

1,000,000

345,800

267,800

78,000

78,000

2009

200,000

1,100,000

1,300,000

385,800

465,800

80,000

0

1,000,000

1,000,000

345,800

345,800

0

0

Total Applicable Credit Used in Prior Periods (Enter the total of column N on Schedule B, line 1, column (c)) :

345,800

Column C: Enter amount from column D of the previous row.

Column E: Compute the tax on the amount in column C or enter amount from column F of the previous row.

3

To compute tax or credit amount, see Table for Computing Gift Tax.

4

For years prior to 2010, the basic exclusion amount equals the applicable exclusion amount.

5

For each row in column K, subtract 20% of any amount allowed as a specific exemption for gifts made after September 8, 1976, and before January 1, 1977.

6

Enter the total of columns L and N of the previous row.

1

2

Example 2. Prior Years Credit Recalculation (for Form 709, Schedule B, Column (c))

(Pre-1977 gifts plus 3 post-1976 years: Earlier years’ gifts exceed credit then available. Last gift made after credit increased.)

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

Period

Taxable

Gifts for

Current

Period

Taxable

Gifts for

Prior

Periods1

Cumulative

Taxable Gifts

Including

Current

Period

(Col. B + Col.

C)

Tax on

Gifts for

Prior

Periods

(Col. C)2 3

Tax on

Cumulative

Gifts

Including

Current

Period (Col.

D)3

Tax on

Gifts for

Current

Period

(Col. F –

Col. E)

DSUE From

Predeceased

Spouse(s)

and

Restored

Exclusion

Amount

Basic

Exclusion

for Year of

the Gift4

Applicable

Exclusion

Amount

(Col. H +

Col. I)

200,000

K

L

M

Applicable

Applicable

Available

Credit

Credit

Credit in

Amount

Amount

Current

Based on Used in Prior

Period

35

36

Column J

Periods

(Col. K – Col.

L)

N

Credit

Allowable

(lesser of

Col. G or

Col. M)

Pre-1977

200,000

1987

600,000

200,000

800,000

54,800

267,800

54,800

213,000

0

600,000

600,000

192,800

0

192,800

192,800

1999

200,000

800,000

1,000,000

267,800

345,800

78,000

0

650,000

650,000

211,300

192,800

18,500

18,500

2002

100

1,000,000

1,000,100

345,800

345,840

40

0

1,000,000

1,000,000

345,800

211,300

134,500

40

Total Applicable Credit Used in Prior Periods (Enter the total of column N on Schedule B, line 1, column (c)) :

211,340

Column C: Enter amount from column D of the previous row.

Column E: Compute the tax on the amount in column C or enter amount from column F of the previous row.

3

To compute tax or credit amount, see Table for Computing Gift Tax.

4

For years prior to 2010, the basic exclusion amount equals the applicable exclusion amount.

5

For each row in column K, subtract 20% of any amount allowed as a specific exemption for gifts made after September 8, 1976, and before January 1, 1977.

6

Enter the total of columns L and N of the previous row.

1

2

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

17

Example 3. Prior Years Credit Recalculation (for Form 709, Schedule B, Column (c))

($6M gift exceeds the applicable credit, $5M DSUE received prior to subsequent $4M gift in the same year.)

A

B

Period

Taxable

Gifts for

Current

Period

C

D

Taxable

Cumulative

Gifts for Taxable Gifts

Prior

Including

Periods1

Current

Period

(Col. B + Col.

C)

E

F

G

H

I

J

Tax on

Gifts for

Prior

Periods

(Col. C)2 3

Tax on

Cumulative

Gifts

Including

Current

Period (Col.

D)3

Tax on

Gifts for

Current

Period

(Col. F –

Col. E)

DSUE From

Predeceased

Spouse(s)

and

Restored

Exclusion

Amount4

Basic

Exclusion

for Year of

the Gift5

Applicable

Exclusion

Amount

(Col. H +

Col. I)

4,000,000

5,000,000

9,000,000

K

L

M

Applicable

Applicable

Available

Credit

Credit

Credit in

Amount

Amount

Current

Based on Used in Prior

Period

36

37

Column J

Periods

(Col. K – Col.

L)

N

Credit

Allowable

(lesser of

Col. G or

Col. M)

Pre-1977

2011

10,000,000

0

10,000,000

0

3,945,800

3,945,800

3,545,800

0

3,545,800

3,545,800

Total Applicable Credit Used in Prior Periods (Enter the total of column N on Schedule B, line 1, column (c)) :

3,545,800

YYYY

YYYY

Column C: Enter amount from column D of the previous row.

2

Column E: Compute the tax on the amount in column C or enter amount from column F of the previous row.

3

To compute tax or credit amount, see Table for Computing Gift Tax.

4

DSUE may not be applied to gifts made prior to when it arises. Consequently, the available DSUE for the current period is limited to $4,000,000, the value of gifts made after the DSUE arose.

5

For years prior to 2010, the basic exclusion amount equals the applicable exclusion amount.

6

For each row in column K, subtract 20% of any amount allowed as a specific exemption for gifts made after September 8, 1976, and before January 1, 1977.

7

Enter the total of columns L and N of the previous row.

1

Example 4. Prior Years Credit Recalculation (for Form 709, Schedule B, Column (c))

(Prior gift exceeds applicable credit, $5M DSUE received prior to subsequent gift.)

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

Period

Taxable

Gifts for

Current

Period

Taxable

Gifts for

Prior

Periods1

Cumulative

Taxable Gifts

Including

Current

Period

(Col. B + Col.

C)

Tax on

Gifts for

Prior

Periods

(Col. C)2 3

Tax on

Cumulative

Gifts

Including

Current

Period (Col.

D)3

Tax on

Gifts for

Current

Period

(Col. F –

Col. E)

DSUE From

Predeceased

Spouse(s)

and

Restored

Exclusion

Amount

Basic

Exclusion

for Year of

the Gift4

Applicable

Exclusion

Amount

(Col. H +

Col. I)

K

L

M

N

Applicable

Applicable

Available

Credit

Credit

Credit

Credit in

Allowable

Amount

Amount

Current

(lesser of

Based on

Used in Prior

Period

Col. G or

35

36

Column J

Periods

(Col. K – Col.

Col. M)

L)

Pre-1977

2002

4,000,000

0

4,000,000

0

1,545,800

1,545,800

0

1,000,000

1,000,000

345,800

0

345,800

345,800

2011

4,000,000

4,000,000

8,000,000

1,545,800

3,145,800

1,600,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

9,000,000

3,545,800

345,800

3,200,000

1,600,000

Total Applicable Credit Used in Prior Periods (Enter the total of column N on Schedule B, line 1, column (c)) :

1,945,800

YYYY

Column C: Enter amount from column D of the previous row.

2

Column E: Compute the tax on the amount in column C or enter amount from column F of the previous row.

3

To compute tax or credit amount, see Table for Computing Gift Tax.

4

For years prior to 2010, the basic exclusion amount equals the applicable exclusion amount.

5

For each row in column K, subtract 20% of any amount allowed as a specific exemption for gifts made after September 8, 1976, and before January 1, 1977.

6

Enter the total of columns L and N of the previous row.

1

18

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

deceased spouse, except to the extent allowed by treaty with the

surviving spouse’s country of citizenship.

Table of Basic Exclusion and Credit Amounts

(as Recalculated for 2025 Rates)

Last Deceased Spouse Limitation

Period

Exclusion Amounts

Credit Amounts

1977 (Quarters 1 & 2)

$30,000

$6,000

1977 (Quarters 3 & 4)

$120,667

$30,000

1978

$134,000

$34,000

1979

$147,333

$38,000

1980

$161,563

$42,500

1981

$175,625

$47,000

1982

$225,000

$62,800

1983

$275,000

$79,300

1984

$325,000

$96,300

1985

$400,000

$121,800

1986

$500,000

$155,800

1987 through 1997

$600,000

$192,800

1998

$625,000

$202,050

1999

$650,000

$211,300

2000 and 2001

$675,000

$220,550

2002 through 2010

$1,000,000

$345,800

2011

$5,000,000

$1,945,800

2012

$5,120,000

$1,993,800

2013

$5,250,000

$2,045,800

2014

$5,340,000

$2,081,800

2015

$5,430,000

$2,117,800

2016

$5,450,000

$2,125,800

2017

$5,490,000

$2,141,800

2018

$11,180,000

$4,417,800

2019

$11,400,000

$4,505,800

2020

$11,580,000

$4,577,800

2021

$11,700,000

$4,625,800

2022

$12,060,000

$4,769,800

2023

$12,920,000

$5,113,800

2024

$13,610,000

$5,389,800

2025

$13,990,000

$5,541,800

Schedule C. Deceased Spousal

Unused Exclusion (DSUE) Amount

and Restored Exclusion Amount

Section 303 of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance

Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 authorized

estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2011, to elect

to transfer any unused exclusion to the surviving spouse. The

amount received by the surviving spouse is called the deceased

spousal unused exclusion, or DSUE, amount. If the executor of

the decedent’s estate elects transfer, or portability, of the DSUE

amount, the surviving spouse can apply the DSUE amount

received from the estate of the last deceased spouse (defined

later) against any tax liability arising from subsequent lifetime

gifts and transfers at death.

Caution: Complete Schedule A before beginning Schedule C.

Note: A nonresident surviving spouse who is not a citizen of the

United States may not take into account the DSUE amount of a

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

The last deceased spouse is the most recently deceased person

who was married to the surviving spouse at the time of that

person’s death. The identity of the last deceased spouse is

determined as of the day a taxable gift is made and is not

impacted by whether the decedent’s estate elected portability or

whether the last deceased spouse had any DSUE amount

available. Remarriage also does not affect the designation of the

last deceased spouse and does not prevent the surviving

spouse from applying the DSUE amount to taxable transfers.

When a taxable gift is made, the DSUE amount received from

the last deceased spouse is applied before the surviving

spouse’s basic exclusion amount. A surviving spouse who has

more than one predeceased spouse is not precluded from using

the DSUE amount of each spouse in succession. A surviving

spouse may not use the sum of DSUE amounts from multiple

predeceased spouses at one time nor may the DSUE amount of

a predeceased spouse be applied after the death of a

subsequent spouse.

When a surviving spouse applies the DSUE amount to a

lifetime gift, the IRS may examine any return of a predeceased

spouse whose executor elected portability to verify the allowable

DSUE amount. The DSUE may be adjusted or eliminated as a

result of the examination; however, the IRS may make an

assessment of additional tax on the return of a predeceased

spouse only within the applicable limitations period under

section 6501.

Restored Exclusion Amount. Prior to the decision of the

Supreme Court in United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. 744, 133

S. Ct. 2675 (2013), the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Public

Law 104-199 (110 Stat. 2419), required that marriages of

couples of the same sex should not be treated as being married

for federal tax purposes. As a result, taxpayers in a same-sex

marriage were not entitled to claim a marital deduction for gifts or

bequests to each other. Those taxpayers were required to use

their applicable exclusion amount to defray any gift or estate tax

imposed on the transfer or were required to pay gift or estate

taxes, to the extent the taxpayer’s exclusion previously had been

exhausted.

In Windsor, the Supreme Court declared that DOMA was

unconstitutional. For federal tax purposes, marriages of couples

of the same sex are treated the same as marriages of couples of

the opposite sex. The term “spouse” includes an individual

married to a person of the same sex. However, individuals who

have entered into a registered domestic partnership, civil union,

or other similar relationship that isn’t considered a marriage

under state law aren’t considered married for federal tax

purposes.

Under a new procedure, a donor who made a transfer to the

donor’s same-sex spouse, which resulted in a reduction of the

donor’s applicable exclusion amount, can now recalculate the

remaining applicable exclusion. This procedure is only available

to transfers that did not qualify for the marital deduction for

federal gift tax purposes at the time of the transfer, based solely

on the application of DOMA. If the limitations period has expired,

the donor may recalculate the remaining applicable exclusion.

However, once the limitations period on assessment of tax has

expired, neither the value of the transferred interest nor any

position concerning a legal issue (other than the existence of the

marriage) related to the transfer can be changed. Similarly, no

credit or refund of the gift taxes paid on the donor’s transfer to

the donor’s same-sex spouse can be given once the limitations

period on claims for credit or refund has expired.

19

The first step of the procedure is to determine the amount of

applicable exclusion that was expended on a taxable gift to a

same-sex spouse. In any given year, the amount of applicable

exclusion expended on a taxable gift to a same-sex spouse is

equal to the amount of applicable exclusion expended on all

taxable gifts multiplied by the ratio of the amount of taxable gifts

to the same-sex spouse over total taxable gifts. The amount of

applicable exclusion expended on all taxable gifts is equal to the

lesser of the available applicable exclusion or the amount of all

taxable gifts.

Example. In 2011, Alex made $5 million of taxable gifts. Alex

made a $3 million taxable gift to Pat, same-sex spouse, and a $2

million taxable gift to Max, another individual. Alex’s marriage to

Pat was recognized by the state where they got married, but was

not recognized by the federal government. The transfer to Pat

would qualify for the marital deduction if Alex’s marriage to Pat

was recognized by the federal government. Alex has a basic

exclusion of $5 million. Alex had previously used $1 million of the

applicable exclusion on other gifts in previous years. This means

that Alex had $4 million of applicable exclusion available in 2011.

Since Alex’s available applicable exclusion ($4 million) is less

than the amount of all taxable gifts for the year ($5 million), Alex

expended all $4 million of the available applicable exclusion on

all taxable gifts during the year.

Example of Calculation of Restored Exclusion

Amount

Taxable gifts to B

Applicable exclusion

____________

expended on all

x

=

Total taxable

taxable gifts

gifts

$4 million

$3 million

x ________

$5 million

=

Applicable exclusion

allocable to gifts to B

$2,400,000

In 2011, Alex expended $2,400,000 of the applicable

exclusion on the taxable gift to Pat.

The second step of the procedure is to repeat the first step for

every year when the donor made a taxable gift to a same-sex

spouse.

The third step of the procedure is to add up the result for all

the years. The result is the total amount of applicable exclusion

expended on the same-sex spouse. This amount of applicable

exclusion will be restored to the donor for use on future gifts and

bequests and is known as the Restored Exclusion Amount. Enter

this amount on line 3 of Schedule C.

Attach a statement to Form 709 detailing the calculation of

the above procedure on the first Form 709 on which you claim a

Restored Exclusion Amount.

Caution: The Restored Exclusion Amount will have to be

accounted for the donor on every subsequent Form 709 (and

Form 706) that will be filed. This means that on all future Forms

709 that will be filed, the Restored Exclusion Amount will need to

be entered on Schedule C. (The Restored Exclusion Amount will

be entered on line 9c of Part II—Tax Computation on Form 706.)

In addition, the Worksheet for Schedule B, Column (c) (Credit

Allowable for Prior Periods) should reflect the Restored

Exclusion Amount. For the period when the applicable exclusion

was first restored, and on every subsequent period listed on the

worksheet, add the Restored Exclusion Amount to the total

DSUE amount (if any) and enter the sum in column H.

Completing Schedule C

Complete Schedule C if the donor is a surviving spouse who

received a DSUE amount from one or more predeceased

spouses, or if the donor is a taxpayer who made a taxable

20

transfer to a same-sex spouse which resulted in a reduction of

the taxpayer’s available applicable exclusion amount (or both).

Schedule C requests information on all DSUE amounts

received from the donor’s last deceased spouse and any

previously deceased spouses. Each line in the chart should

reflect a different predeceased spouse. Attach proof of each

portability election reported on Schedule C.

Part 1. DSUE Received From Last Deceased

Spouse

In this Part, include information about the DSUE amount from the

donor’s most recently deceased spouse (whose date of death is

after December 31, 2010). In column (e), enter the total of the

amount in column (d) that the donor has applied to gifts in

previous years and is applying to gifts reported on this return. A

donor may apply DSUE only to gifts made after the DSUE arose.

Part 2. DSUE Received From Predeceased

Spouse(s)

Enter information about the DSUE amount from the spouse(s), if

any, who died prior to the donor’s most recently deceased

spouse (but not before January 1, 2011) if the prior spouse’s

executor elected portability of the DSUE amount. In column (d),

indicate the amount of DSUE received from the estate of each

predeceased spouse. In column (e), enter the portion of the

amount of DSUE shown in column (d) that was applied to prior

lifetime gifts or transfers. A donor may apply DSUE only to gifts

made after the DSUE arose.

Caution: Any remaining DSUE from a predeceased spouse

cannot be applied against tax arising from lifetime gifts if that

spouse is not the most recently deceased spouse on the date of

the gift. This rule applies even if the last deceased spouse had

no DSUE amount or made no valid portability election, or if the

DSUE amount from the last deceased spouse has been fully

applied to gifts in previous periods.

Determining the Applicable Credit Amount

Including DSUE and the Restored Exclusion

Amount

On line 1, enter the donor’s basic exclusion amount; for 2025,

this amount is $13,990,000. Add the amounts listed in column

(e) from Parts 1 and 2 and enter the total on line 2. On line 3,

enter the Restored Exclusion Amount. On line 4, enter the total

of lines 1, 2, and 3. Using the Table for Computing Gift Tax,

determine the donor’s applicable credit by applying the

appropriate tax rate to the amount on line 4. Enter this amount

on line 5 and on line 7 of Part II—Tax Computation.

Schedule D. Computation of

Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax

Part 1—Generation-Skipping Transfers

Enter in Part 1 all of the gifts you listed in Part 2 of Schedule A, in

the same order and showing the same values. If reporting the

GST portion of transfers subject to an ETIP, see How to report

GSTs after the close of an ETIP, later.

Column (a)

List items from Schedule A, Part 2, column (a), in the same

order. Next, list items to be reported on Schedule D (including

ETIP transfers), if any.

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

Column (b)

Only provide descriptions for ETIP transfers; otherwise, leave

blank.

Column (d)

You are allowed to claim the gift tax annual exclusion currently

allowable for your reported direct skips (other than certain direct

skips to trusts—see Note below) using the rules and limits

discussed earlier for the gift tax annual exclusion. However, you

must allocate the exclusion on a gift-by-gift basis for GST

computation purposes. You must allocate the exclusion to each

gift, to the extent desired but not exceeding the maximum

allowable amount, in chronological order, beginning with the

earliest gift that qualifies for the exclusion. Be sure that you do

not claim a total exclusion of more than $19,000 per donee.

Note: You may not claim any annual exclusion for a transfer

made to a trust unless the trust meets the requirements

discussed under Part 2, earlier.

How to report GSTs after the close of an ETIP. If you are

reporting a GST that occurred because of the close of an ETIP,

complete Part 1 as follows.

Column (b). For transfers subject to an ETIP only, describe

each transfer as provided in the instructions for Part 1 of

Schedule A. In addition, describe the interest that is closing the

ETIP, explain what caused the interest to terminate, list the date

the ETIP closed, and list the year the gift portion of the transfer

was reported and its item number on Schedule A that was

originally filed to report the gift portion of the ETIP transfer.

Column (c).

1. If the GST exemption is being allocated on a timely filed

(including extensions) gift tax return, enter the value as of

the close of the ETIP.

2. If the GST exemption is being allocated on a late-filed (past

the due date including extensions) gift return, enter the

value as of the date the gift tax return was filed.

Part 2—GST Exemption Reconciliation (Section

2631)

Line 1

Every donor is allowed a lifetime GST exemption. The amount of

the exemption for 2025 is $13,990,000. For transfers made

through 1998, the GST exemption was $1 million. The exemption

amounts for 1999 through 2025 are as follows.

Year

1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2004 and 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2006, 2007, and 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2010 and 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2016 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2017 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2018 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2019 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2020 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2021 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2022 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2023 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2024 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2025 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Amount

$1,010,000

$1,030,000

$1,060,000

$1,100,000

$1,120,000

$1,500,000

$2,000,000

$3,500,000

$5,000,000

$5,120,000

$5,250,000

$5,340,000

$5,430,000

$5,450,000

$5,490,000

$11,180,000

$11,400,000

$11,580,000

$11,700,000

$12,060,000

$12,920,000

$13,610,000

$13,990,000

In general, each annual increase can only be allocated to

transfers made (or appreciation occurring) during or after the

year of the increase.

Example. A donor made $1,750,000 in direct-skip GSTs

through 2005, and allocated all $1,500,000 of the exemption to

those transfers. In 2025, the donor makes a $2,000,000 taxable

GST. The donor can allocate $2,000,000 of exemption to the

2025 transfer but cannot allocate the $10,490,000 of unused

2025 exemption to pre-2025 transfers.

However, if in 2005, the donor made a $1,750,000 transfer to

a trust that was not a direct skip, but from which GSTs could be

made in the future, the donor could allocate the increased

exemption to the trust, even though no additional transfers were

made to the trust. See Regulations section 26.2642-4 for the

redetermination of the applicable fraction when additional

exemption is allocated to the trust.

Keep a record of your transfers and exemption allocations to

make sure that any future increases are allocated correctly.

Enter on line 1 of Part 2 the maximum GST exemption you are

allowed. This will not necessarily be the highest indexed amount

if you made no GSTs during the year of the increase.

The donor can apply this exemption to inter vivos transfers

(that is, transfers made during the donor’s life) on Form 709. The

executor can apply the exemption on Form 706 to transfers

taking effect at death. An allocation is irrevocable.

In the case of inter vivos direct skips, a portion of the donor’s

unused exemption is automatically allocated to the transferred

property unless the donor elects otherwise. To elect out of the

automatic allocation of exemption, you must file Form 709 and

attach a statement to it clearly describing the transaction and the

extent to which the automatic allocation is not to apply. Reporting

a direct skip on a timely filed Form 709 and paying the GST tax

on the transfer will prevent an automatic allocation.

Line 5

Section 2632(c) provides an automatic allocation to indirect

skips of any unused GST exemption. The unused exemption is

allocated to indirect skips to the extent necessary to make the

inclusion ratio zero for the property transferred. You may elect

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

21

Table for Computing Gift Tax

Taxable

amount

over—

Taxable

amount

not over—

Tax on

amount in

column A

Rate of tax

on excess

over amount

in column A

----$10,000

20,000

40,000

60,000

$10,000

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

----$1,800

3,800

8,200

13,000

18%

20%

22%

24%

26%

80,000

100,000

150,000

250,000

500,000

750,000

1,000,000

100,000

150,000

250,000

500,000

750,000

1,000,000

-----

18,200

23,800

38,800

70,800

155,800

248,300

345,800

28%

30%

32%

34%

37%

39%

40%

out of this automatic allocation as explained in the instructions

for Part 3.

Line 6

Enter the amount of GST exemption you are applying to transfers

reported in Part 3 of Schedule A. You may also wish to allocate

GST exemption to transfers not reported on this return, such as a

late allocation.

Notice of Allocation. To allocate your exemption to such

transfers, attach a statement to this Form 709 and entitle it

“Notice of Allocation.” The notice must contain the following for

each trust (or other transfer).

• Clear identification of the trust, including the trust’s EIN, if

known.

• If this is a late allocation, the year the transfer was reported

on Form 709.

• The value of the trust assets at the effective date of the

allocation.

• The amount of your GST exemption allocated to each gift (or

a statement that you are allocating exemption by means of a

formula such as “an amount necessary to produce an

inclusion ratio of zero”).

• The inclusion ratio of the trust after the allocation.

Total the exemption allocations and enter this total on line 6.

Note: Where the property involved in such a transfer is subject

to an ETIP, an allocation of the GST exemption at the time of the

transfer will only become effective at the end of the ETIP. For

details, see Transfers Subject to an Estate Tax Inclusion Period

(ETIP), earlier, and section 2642(f).

Part 3—Tax Computation

You must enter in Part 3 every gift you listed in Part 1 of

Schedule D.

Column (c)

You are not required to allocate your available exemption. You

may allocate some, all, or none of your available exemption, as

you wish, among the gifts listed in Part 3 of Schedule D.

However, the total exemption claimed in column (c) may not

exceed the amount you entered on line 3 of Part 2 of

Schedule D.

22

.

Column D

.

Column C

.

Column B

.

Column A

Column (d)

Carry your computation to three decimal places (for example,

“1.000”).

Part II—Tax Computation (Page 1 of

Form 709)

Lines 4 and 5

To compute the tax for the amount on line 3 (to be entered on

line 4) and the tax for the amount on line 2 (to be entered on

line 5), use the Table for Computing Gift Tax.

Line 7

The applicable credit (formerly unified credit) amount is the

tentative tax on the applicable exclusion amount. For gifts made

in 2025, the applicable exclusion amount equals:

• The basic exclusion amount of $13,990,000, PLUS

• Any DSUE amount, PLUS

• Any Restored Exclusion Amount.

If you are a citizen or resident of the United States, you must

apply any available applicable credit against gift tax. If you are

not eligible to use a DSUE amount from a predeceased spouse,

or Restored Exclusion Amount on taxable gifts made to a

same-sex spouse, enter $5,541,800 on line 7. Nonresidents not

citizens of the United States may not claim the applicable credit

and should enter zero on line 7.

If you are eligible to use a DSUE amount from a predeceased

spouse or a Restored Exclusion Amount for taxable gifts to a

same-sex spouse (or both), complete Schedule C—Deceased

Spousal Unused Exclusion (DSUE) Amount and enter the

amount from line 5 of that schedule on line 7 of Part II—Tax

Computation.

Determine the tentative tax on the applicable exclusion

amount using the rates in the Table for Computing Gift Tax, and

enter the result on line 7.

Line 10

Enter 20% of the amount allowed as a specific exemption for

gifts made after September 8, 1976, and before January 1, 1977.

(These amounts will be among those listed in Schedule B,

column (d), for gifts made in the third and fourth quarters of

1976.)

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

Line 13

Gift tax conventions are in effect with Australia, Austria,

Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. If

you are claiming a credit for payment of foreign gift tax, figure the

credit and attach the calculation to Form 709, along with

evidence that the foreign taxes were paid. See the applicable

convention for details of computing the credit.

• Your deposit is to a savings account that doesn’t allow you to

write checks, or

• Your checks state they are payable through a financial

institution different from the one at which you have your

checking account.

Line 20c

Line 19—Tax Due

If the amount on line 17 is more than the amount on line 18,

subtract line 18 from line 17. This is the amount you owe.

Check the appropriate box for the type of account. Don’t check

more than one box. You must check the correct box to ensure

your deposit is accepted.

Making a Payment

Line 20d

The IRS recommends paying electronically whenever possible.

Options to pay electronically include any of the payment options

below. Also, go to IRS.gov/Payments and Frequently asked

questions on estate taxes for more detailed information.

The account number can be up to 17 characters (both numbers

and letters). Include hyphens but omit spaces and special

symbols. Enter the number from left to right and leave any

unused boxes blank. Don’t include the check number.

EFTPS. Payment of the tax due may be submitted electronically

through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS).

EFTPS is a free service of the Department of the Treasury. See

IRS.gov/EFTPS and EFTPS.gov for more information.

Same-day wire. Payment of the tax due may be submitted

electronically through same-day wire from your financial

institution. Contact your financial institution for availability, cost,

and time frames. See IRS.gov/SameDayWire and How do I

make an electronic payment under Frequently asked questions

on estate taxes on IRS.gov for the worksheet and more

information.

Paying by check. Make the check payable to “United States

Treasury.” Write the donor’s TIN and “Form 709” to assist us in

posting it to the proper account. See IRS.gov/PayByMail for

more information.

Paying by cash. You may be able to pay your balance due

with cash at participating retail stores. See IRS.gov/PayCash.

Line 20—Overpayment

If you have access to U.S. banking services, you should use

direct deposit for any refunds, whenever possible. See IRS.gov/

DirectDeposit for more information.

Direct deposit is available for this form. If there is an

overpayment when filing your return, complete Part II, lines 20b,

20c, and 20d to input your direct deposit information.

Line 20a

If line 20a is under $1, we will send a refund only on written

request.

Line 20b

Signature

As a donor, you must sign the return. If you pay another person,

firm, or corporation to prepare your return, that person must also

sign the return as preparer unless that person is your regular

full-time employee.

Remember, if you and your spouse have consented to split

gifts, your spouse must also sign and date a Notice of Consent,

to be attached to the return.

Third-party designee. If you want to allow the return preparer

(listed on the bottom of page 1 of Form 709) to discuss your

2025 Form 709 with the IRS, check the “Yes” box to the far right

of your signature on page 1 of your return.

If you check the “Yes” box, you (and your spouse, if splitting

gifts) are authorizing the IRS to call your return preparer to

answer questions that may arise during the processing of your

return. You are also authorizing the return preparer of your 2025

Form 709 to:

• Give the IRS any information that is missing from your return;

• Call the IRS for information about the processing of your

return or the status of your payment(s);

• Receive copies of notices or transcripts related to your

return, upon request; and

• Respond to certain IRS notices about math errors, offsets,

and return preparation.

You are not authorizing your return preparer to receive any

refund check, to bind you to anything (including any additional

tax liability), or otherwise represent you before the IRS. If you

want to expand the authorization of your return preparer, see

Pub. 947, Practice Before the IRS and Power of Attorney.

The authorization will automatically end 3 years from the date

of filing Form 709. If you wish to revoke the authorization before it

ends, see Pub. 947.

The routing number must be nine digits. The first two digits must

be 01 through 12 or 21 through 32. Ask your financial institution

for the correct routing number to enter on line 20b if:

• The routing number on a deposit slip is different from the

routing number on your checks,

Disclosure, Privacy Act, and Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the information on this form to carry out the Internal

Revenue laws of the United States. We need the information to figure and collect the right amount of tax. Form 709 is used to report (1)

transfers subject to the federal gift and certain GST taxes and to figure the tax, if any, due on those transfers; and (2) allocations of the

lifetime GST exemption to property transferred during the transferor’s lifetime.

Our legal right to ask for the information requested on this form is found in sections 6001, 6011, 6019, and 6061, and their

regulations. You are required to provide the information requested on this form. Section 6109 requires that you provide your identifying

number.

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)

23

Generally, tax returns and return information are confidential, as stated in section 6103. However, section 6103 allows or requires

the Internal Revenue Service to disclose or give such information shown on your Form 709 to the Department of Justice to enforce the

tax laws, both civil and criminal, and to cities, states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. commonwealths and territories for use in

administering their tax laws. We may also disclose this information to other countries under a tax treaty, to federal and state agencies

to enforce federal nontax criminal laws, or to federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies to combat terrorism.

We may disclose the information on your Form 709 to the Department of the Treasury and contractors for tax administration

purposes; and to other persons as necessary to obtain information that we cannot get in any other way for purposes of determining the

amount of or to collect the tax you owe. We may disclose the information on your Form 709 to the Comptroller General to review the

Internal Revenue Service. We may also disclose the information on your Form 709 to Committees of Congress; federal, state, and

local child support agencies; and to other federal agencies for the purpose of determining entitlement for benefits or the eligibility for,

and the repayment of, loans.

If you are required to but do not file a Form 709, or do not provide the information requested on the form, or provide fraudulent

information, you may be charged penalties and be subject to criminal prosecution.

You are not required to provide the information requested on a form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless the form

displays a valid OMB control number. Books or records relating to a form or its instructions must be retained as long as their contents

may become material in the administration of any Internal Revenue law.

The time needed to complete and file this form will vary depending on individual circumstances. The estimated average time is:

Recordkeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 min.

Learning about the law or the form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 hr., 53 min.

Preparing the form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 hr., 21 min.

Copying, assembling, and sending the form to the IRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 hr., 3 min.

Comments and suggestions. We welcome your comments about this publication and suggestions for future editions.

You can send us comments through IRS.gov/FormComments. Or, you can write to the Internal Revenue Service, Tax Forms and

Publications, 1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526, Washington, DC 20224.

Although we can’t respond individually to each comment received, we do appreciate your feedback and will consider your

comments and suggestions as we revise our tax forms, instructions, and publications. Don’t send tax questions, tax returns, or

payments to the above address. Instead, see Where To File, earlier.

24

Instructions for Form 709 (2025)