You can give as much as you want. However, if you do not want to be taxed, you have to stick to the exemption that’s allowed by the Internal Revenue Code.

The Internal Revenue Service gives every individual a certain amount of money, a certain amount of exemption, that they can pass along. The exemption is in the form of money that you can pass along to anybody; it doesn’t have to be your family members. You can give that to anyone.

At this moment, at the federal level, the gift tax exclusion amount is somewhere in the neighborhood of $16,000.00. So you can give Joe, Mary, and Tom $16,000.00 each. And if you’re married, you and your spouse can split that gift and give Joe, Mary, and Tom $32,000.00 a piece.