21.   Larger gifts are subject to gift taxes, but those levies are not due until the donor has used up his lifetime exclusion.

22.   Many more people could benefit from elimination of the gift tax, a proposal that is still being worked out by the White House and members of Congress.

23.   No federal gift tax would be due unless your mother previously made other significant gifts.

24.   People often avoid gift taxes by not filing the gift tax return.

25.   So Congress kept the gift tax, with modifications.

26.   Survivor benefits are free of income and excise taxes and can be structured to be free of gift taxes.

27.   The bill also would phase out gift taxes and the generation-skipping transfer tax over ten years.

28.   The gift tax works this way.

29.   The gift tax, the flip-side of estate tax, designed to minimize avoiding tax by giving assets away during your lifetime, will stay.

30.   The grandparents avoid the gift tax, keep control of the money and can look forward to being fussed over on their birthdays by the grandchildren.