Summary:
I have received a sizeable monetary (cash) gift from my mother and need to be certain that it will be treated as part of her ‘lifetime gift tax exemption’ so she does not have to pay gift tax on it. The concern is that my wife and I have lived in Japan for approx 1.5 years now – we want to be sure that this hasn’t somehow changed anything such that the lifetime gift tax exemption would no longer be applicable for this gift.
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Details:
My mother, myself, and my wife are all US citizens. My wife is here for a two year term as a direct employee of the Air Force under the standard SOFA circumstances. We aren’t applying for PR in Japan, have no outside jobs/income in Japan, etc. We paid US federal and state taxes last year just like we always do and will be doing the same this year.
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Everything I have been able to find so far indicates that nothing has changed regarding our tax residency, tax status, and such. I’m not concerned about owing any Japanese tax (MOFA and other sources seem sufficiently clear on this), the concern is just that the gift might somehow be made ineligible for the LGTE by virtue of the recipient being out of the US and/or specifically in Japan for 1.5 years, in which case my mother would owe a substantial gift tax.
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Thank you in advance for any information or direction to such that you can provide.
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by DSGGM