Making a donation, even to your children, is not trivial. Family donation, customary present, how much to give without being obliged to declare to the tax authorities… So many questions that two MoneyVox readers are asking themselves. The answer is not so obvious, it all depends on the situation. Explanations.
Questions from Claudie on November 16,
I would like to give 10,000 euros to my daughter as a Christmas present, do I have to declare it?
Question from Hertell, November 26
Our mother wants to give 10,000 euros to each of her 3 children for Christmas. Does she have to declare them or is it considered a customary gift?
Hello and thank you Claudie and Hertell for your questions. It is impossible to answer your question in the affirmative: should this donation be declared to the tax authorities? In fact, this gift offered as a Christmas present could actually be considered as present of use, since it meets one of the conditions, that of being linked to an event (Christmas, marriage, birth, etc.). If it is a customary gift, it would not be necessary to declare it. BUT… in the event of an audit, the tax authorities would judge the importance of this sum in relation to your assets. This is why we cannot answer you in the affirmative. However, it is preferable to declare the donation made in favor of your children. Except for very substantial payments made over the last 15 years, the donation of 10,000 euros will benefit from tax relief.
Customary present, family gift or donation?
In detail, a customary gift is defined as a sum of money (or movable property) given to loved ones, the amount of which remains reasonable and exceptional (birthday, Christmas or wedding gift, for example). But what do we mean by reasonable? The law does not provide for a maximum amount but, in practice, in case law, a tacit limit insistently returns around 12% of assets or income. If these 10,000 euros exceed 2% of your income, you will of course have to declare it for taxes.
How to declare the gift to the tax authorities?
But be careful, the declaration is made by the one who receives the gift, the donee. It can be done by mail (via form 2735-SD declaration of manual donations and sums of money) or online on the website impots.gouv.fr.
Donation: how to give money to your children or loved ones, and how much?
Furthermore, if this gift was not considered a customary gift, your children would still not have to pay any tax. Indeed, within the framework of a family donationyour children benefit from a tax exemption of up to 31,865 euros per beneficiary and for a period of 15 years.
Attention: to benefit from this reduction, the donor (the one who gives) must have less than 80 years old on the day of donation.
Finally, regardless of the age of the donor, children receiving a gift from their parents benefit from a gift tax reduction which amounts to 100,000 euros per child (still over a period of 15 years). Tax exemption up to 31,865 euros accumulates with this reduction.
| Who gets the money? | How much? | When? | Declaration necessary? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present tense | |||
| All (regardless of the parent relationship) | Without precise limit but of a reasonable amount1 | For a one-off event (birthday, Christmas, wedding, birth, etc.) | |
| Exemption for family donations of money | |||
| Childgrandchild, great-grandchild2 | 31865 by beneficiary3 | Ceiling valid on 15 years | |
| Gift tax allowances | |||
lice Or | 80724 | Ceiling valid on 15 years | |
| Child | 100000 for every child | ||
| Grandchild | 31865 for each grandchild | ||
| Great-grandchild | 5310 by beneficiary | ||
| Brother or on | 15932 by beneficiary | ||
| Nephew or nice | 7967 by beneficiary | ||
1 No more than 1% 2% of the assets and/or annual income of the donor, according to case law.
2 Or even nephew or nice in the absence of descendants.
3 Under conditions: donor under 80 years old, and adult beneficiary or emancipated minor.
Taxes: this jackpot that you can give to your children without paying anything