Tax season, happily, is ending soon, and if you haven’t used your exemptions, you should probably do so now. Tax returns are due April 17, while filing began on January 29, which means that the American people have had four months to either procrastinate on their taxes (or get them done).
If you haven’t used your tax exemptions, do it now, particularly when it comes to the estate tax and gift tax. The estate and gift tax exemptions work together, so it makes sense, in this article, to talk about them together with estate planning in mind.

The Estate Tax Exemption
An estate tax is a tax levied on a deceased person’s estate based on the estate’s net value. On an estate, there are two types of taxes that you need to be aware of: one on the income generated from the estate’s assets and another on the transfer of assets to the beneficiaries of the estate.
The estate tax exemption has been raised to $11 million per individual, which equals $22 million for a married couple electing portability. Before 2018, the estate tax exemption was maybe half of what the individual person could get. So, if you fall within this exclusionary amount, you can dodge the estate tax altogether.
Similarly, the gift tax has undergone some changes in 2018.

The Gift Tax Exemption
The gift tax exemption (also known as the gift tax exclusion) has increased in 2018. Before 2018, the limit was $14,000. But now, in 2018, the limit is $15,000. For married couples who split their gifts, the limit ends up being $30,000.
This gift tax exemption is especially valuable for families who are gifting money to help pay for college education. There is a special type of plan for gift money that is used to pay for college: the § 529 plan. A 529 plan allows you to gift five times the gift tax exemption limit in a single year and still be covered by the exclusion. So, if you were to give a gift of $75,000, you would not be taxed on it because it would be considered five gifts of $15,000. Were the limit still $14,000, the 529 would exempt $5,000 less.
The gift tax and estate tax exemptions have both gone up, and the increase in these exemptions will benefit the savvy filer who knows how to use them.

How the Two Work Together
Known as the “unified tax,” the gift and estate tax are the same rate and applied in the same way. The gift tax occurs when you’re alive, and the estate tax comes when you are dead. You can gift during your lifetime in order to avoid paying estate taxes when you are deceased. If you give gifts throughout your life and meet the exemption, you can reduce the amount of taxes that you will have to pay on your estate.
The other benefit to this idea of “gifting while you live to save on taxes when you die” is that even if you are taxed on your gifts, you have the option of paying those, because you’ll be alive. The estate tax will just take out a chunk of what your beneficiary will inherit.
Use it or lose it! Tax season is coming to an end, and if you are able to claim either of these exemptions, you should.