Individuals must use Form 709 to report the following:

• Transfers subject to the federal gift and certain generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes and to figure the tax, if any, due on those transfers and
• Allocation of the lifetime GST exemption to property transferred during the transferor's lifetime. (For more details, see the instructions for Part 2 - GST Exemption Reconciliation on page 10, and Regulations section 26.2632-1.)

Who Must File

In general. If you are a citizen or resident of the United States, you must file a gift tax return (whether or not any tax is ultimately due) in the following situations.

• If you gave gifts to someone in 2006 totalling more than $12,000, (other than to your spouse) you probably must file Form 709. But see page 2 for information on specific gifts that are not taxable and for gifts to your spouse.
• Certain gifts, called future interests, are not subject to the $12,000 annual exclusion and you must file Form 709 even if the gift was under $12,000. See Annual Exclusion on page 2.
• A husband and wife may not file a joint gift tax return. Each individual is responsible for his or her own Form 709.
• You must file a gift tax return to split gifts with your spouse (regardless of their amount) as described in Part 1?General Information on page 4. Form 709-A, United States Short Form Gift Tax Return, is obsolete.
• If a gift is of community property, it is considered made one-half by each spouse. For example, a gift of $100,000 of community property is considered a gift of $50,000 made by each spouse, and each spouse must file a gift tax return.
• Likewise, each spouse must file a gift tax return if they have made a gift of property held by them as joint tenants or tenants by the entirety.
• Only individuals are required to file gift tax returns. If a trust, estate, partnership, or corporation makes a gift, the individual beneficiaries, partners, or stockholders are considered donors and may be liable for the gift and GST taxes.
• The donor is responsible for paying the gift tax. However, if the donor does not pay the tax, the person receiving the gift may have to pay the tax.
• If a donor dies before filing a return, the donor's executor must file the return.

If you meet all of the following requirements, you are not required to file Form 709:

• You made no gifts during the year to your spouse,
• You did not give more than $12,000 to any one donee, and
• All the gifts you made were of present interests.

Gifts to charities.

If the only gifts you made during the year are deductible as gifts to charities, you do not need to file a return as long as you transferred your entire interest in the property to qualifying charities. If you transferred only a partial interest, or transferred part of your interest to someone other than a charity, you must still file a return and report all of your gifts to charities.

If you are required to file a return to report noncharitable gifts and you made gifts to charities, you must include all of your gifts to charities on the return.