Cash gift fairness

parentx

Hi all,

Need some opinions on cash gifting:

Two brothers are set to receive a cash gift. Brother1 is on a substantially higher yearly income than brother2.

Brother1 expects to encounter a tax bill from the gift and that the extra tax to be paid on his cash gift (that brother2 won’t encounter) so that the net income from both gifts is the same.

Personally I can see his point but brother2 was mortified by this so just wanted to get a feel for others opinions before I fully made up my mind on the matter.

Obviously the actual answer is to do what I want or not gift at all if there is squabbling but for the purposes of this exercise let’s assume those options are not on the table.

Thanks in advance for any replies

ParentX

jjj1980

I would say give them the exact same amount. Brother 2 should not get a smaller payment just because brother 1 will incur a tax bill, regardless of the end result for brother 1.


Or, as I have seen with the clients I deal with at work, they would be giving brother 2 a substantially higher amount to bring him more in-line with brother 1's wealth.

Marvel1

They both get given the same amount at the start.

Brother 2 should not be punished just because he earns less than brother 1.

Person_one

If this is happening in the UK, tax isn't paid on gifts between individuals, so nothing for either of them to worry about.

silvercar

There is no tax on gifts in this country.

74jax

Gift the same.

But unsure why there is tax?

gettingtheresometime

If brother 1 expected me, as the giver, to pay his tax bill just because he earns more......he'd be lucky to get anything at all.

onomatopoeia99

For the purpose of this exercise, let's assume this is a UK based forum. It would be a good assumption as a 30 second read of any other page will demonstrate that the site concerns money saving in the UK.

My most important observation, would be that there is no tax on gifts in the UK.

Therefore, for the purpose of this exercise, brother1 appears to be lying to you about tax to try to get more money, and therefore shouldn't get anything at all.

*Robin*

Both brothers receive the same amount of cash, but B1 also gets a reminder that such avarice as his demand demonstrates - especially to the detriment of very close family members [B2 and the generous donors of the gift] - is a lamentable character fault.

Sadly, B1's attitude is becoming common, especially among those who enjoy a much higher than average income.

[Deleted User]

A few years ago, my wife's father gifted both her and her sister a fairly large amount from abroad (her sister lives elsewhere in the EU). He gifted the same amount in Euros (When the rate was about 1.4), so we received less after exchange fees etc. Unfair? I don't think so, we were just happy (and speechless) to receive the gift ... until it appeared in our account we had no idea of just how generous he had been.

KRB2725

I think brother one sounds greedy and ungrateful.