What Form 709 is for
Form 709 reports transfers subject to the federal gift tax and certain generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes, and it figures the tax due on those transfers. It also records how you allocate your lifetime GST exemption to property you give away while you are alive. You file it whether or not any tax is ultimately due. Gift and GST taxes run on a calendar year, so every reportable gift you made in 2025 goes on one 2025 return.
Only individuals file gift tax returns. Spouses may not file a joint gift tax return, so you and your spouse each file your own. If a trust, estate, partnership, or corporation makes a gift, the individual beneficiaries, partners, or stockholders count as the donors. The donor is responsible for paying the gift tax. If the donor does not pay it, the person who received the gift may have to pay.
Who has to file Form 709?
If you are a citizen or resident of the United States and you gave gifts to someone in 2025 totaling more than $19,000, other than to your spouse, you generally file Form 709. You also file if you gave a gift of a future interest, even if it was under $19,000, and you file to split gifts with your spouse no matter what they add up to. A gift of community property counts as made one-half by each spouse, so each spouse files a return. If a donor dies before filing, the donor's executor files the return.
You are not required to file if all three of the following are true for the year.
- 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.
When is Form 709 due?
Form 709 is an annual return. File it no earlier than January 1 and no later than April 15 of the year after the gift was made. When April 15 falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the return is due on the next business day. If the donor died during 2025, the executor files the donor's 2025 Form 709 no later than the earlier of the due date (with extensions) for the donor's estate tax return, or April 15, 2026, or the extended due date granted for the gift tax return.
- Any extension granted for your 2025 income tax return, using Form 4868 or Form 2350, also extends your 2025 gift tax return.
- If you are not extending your income tax return, Form 8892 requests an automatic 6-month extension for Form 709.
- Neither method extends the time to pay the gift or GST tax. You request that separately.
Where do you send Form 709?
Mail the return to the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Kansas City, MO 64999. If you use a private delivery service designated by the IRS, send it to the Internal Revenue Service, 333 W. Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO 64108. A private delivery service cannot deliver to a P.O. box, so use the U.S. Postal Service for any IRS P.O. box address. An amended or supplemental Form 709 goes to a different place: Internal Revenue Service Center, Attn: E&G, Stop 824G, 7940 Kentucky Drive, Florence, KY 41042-2915.
What changed on the 2025 Form 709?
Modernized e-File (MeF) now accepts the Form 709 family of returns. You can e-file a return showing a balance due and authorize an electronic funds withdrawal from your bank account at the same time. The e-help Desk is 866-255-0654 (toll-free). Direct deposit fields were added at Part II, lines 20b, 20c, and 20d, for use when line 20a shows an overpayment. The form itself was rearranged as well, and there is a separate return for people who are neither citizens nor residents.
- The annual gift exclusion for 2025 is $19,000. For gifts to a spouse who is not a U.S. citizen, the annual exclusion is $190,000.
- The top rate for gifts and generation-skipping transfers stays at 40%. The basic credit amount for 2025 is $5,541,800 and the basic exclusion amount is $13,990,000.
- Old Part I, lines 12 through 18, moved to a new Part III on page 2. A consenting spouse no longer signs the return but must sign a Notice of Consent attached to it.
- Schedule A, Parts 1 and 3, gained checkbox columns (k), (l), and (m) for a charitable gift, a deductible gift to a spouse, or a section 2652(a)(3) election.
- Nonresidents not citizens of the United States who gave real or other tangible property situated in the United States now file Form 709-NA.
How do you fill out Form 709?
Work in the order the instructions set out. Decide whether you have to file, decide which gifts you must report, and decide whether you and your spouse will split gifts for the year. Fill in lines 1 through 21 of Part I, then lines 1 through 7 of Part III. List each gift once on Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3 of Schedule A, never in more than one of them. Complete Schedules B, C, and D as they apply, then Schedule A, Part 4, then Part II. Sign and date the return. A return filed without entries in each field will not be processed.
Which gifts do you leave off the return?
Four types of transfers are not subject to the gift tax at all: transfers to political organizations, transfers to certain exempt organizations, payments that qualify for the educational exclusion, and payments that qualify for the medical exclusion. Tuition has to go straight to the qualifying school, and medical payments have to go straight to the care provider. Do not list any of these on Schedule A. The first $19,000 of present interest gifts to each donee during the year also comes out when you figure taxable gifts, though a gift of a future interest never qualifies for that exclusion.
Gifts to charity have their own rule. If the only gifts you made all year are deductible gifts to charities, and you transferred your entire interest in the property to qualifying charities, you do not need to file. Transfer only part of your interest, or give part of it to someone other than a charity, and you file and report all of your charitable gifts.
Form 709 line by line
| Line | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 3 | Your social security number, or an ITIN you have already used on U.S. tax returns. Leave blank if you have no SSN, ITIN, or IRSN. |
| 12 | The state, District of Columbia, or foreign country where you legally reside or are domiciled at the time of the gift. |
| 13 | Your citizenship. Enter 'United States' if you meet the citizen definition in the instructions, otherwise the country you are a citizen of. |
| 15 | Check this box if this is an amended return. Attach a statement of what changed plus a copy of the original Form 709 you filed. |
| 17 | The total number of donees listed on Schedule A, counting each person only once. |
| 18a | Whether you previously filed a Form 709 (or 709-A) for another year. If 'Yes,' fill out Schedule B for those prior periods. |
| 19 | Whether you and/or your spouse made gifts to third parties. If 'Yes,' complete Part III. If you are not married, skip to line 20. |
| 20 | Whether you are applying a deceased spousal unused exclusion (DSUE) amount from a predeceased spouse. If 'Yes,' complete Schedule C. |
| 21 | Whether any transfer reported here includes a digital asset or a financial interest in one. You must check 'Yes' or 'No.' |
| Part III | Spouse's consent on gifts to third parties. Complete lines 1 through 7 only if you checked 'Yes' on line 19, and attach a Notice of Consent. |
| Schedule A, Part 1 | Gifts subject only to the gift tax, such as reportable gifts to your spouse, your children, and charitable organizations. |
| Schedule A, Part 2 | Direct skips, meaning gifts subject to both gift tax and GST tax. List them in the order you made them. |
| Schedule A, Part 3 | Indirect skips and other transfers in trust that are taxed as gifts now and may be subject to GST tax later. List them in chronological order. |
| Part II, line 7 | Your applicable credit. Enter $5,541,800 if you have no DSUE or Restored Exclusion Amount, otherwise the amount from Schedule C, line 5. |
Penalties and withholding
$1,000 or 50%
Preparer penalty, whichever is greater, for a return that understates tax due to an unreasonable position
$5,000 or 75%
Preparer penalty for a return that understates tax due to willful or reckless conduct
$50
Preparer penalty for failing to give the taxpayer a copy, sign the return, or provide a PTIN
65%
A substantial valuation understatement: reported value is 65% or less of the property's actual value
40%
A gross valuation understatement: reported value is 40% or less of the property's actual value
Source: IRS, Form 709 (Rev. 2025) and Instructions for Form 709, United States Gift (and Generation - Skipping Transfer) Tax Return. This page explains the form in plain English. It is not tax advice.