Abraham Lincoln found himself at the head of a government that was divided amongst itself on how to proceed, given that the southern half of the country was teetering on the edge of secession.
I've noticed that employees don't contribute much when the envelope makes its rounds. I'd say their contributions average $3 per person, tops. I don't want to appear cheap to our boss presenting him with a departmental retirement gift of less than $200 (there is 60 people in the department). I want to ask the staff to increase their contribution to $30 per person, so we can give my boss an $1800 gift.
Annual Gift Exclusion. In 2014, you may give someone up to $14,000 in gifts before paying any gift tax. The $14,000 annual gift exclusion is a limit on nontaxable gifts per person, and you may give multiple people up to $14,000 each without incurring any tax liability.However, the amounts of your annual gift exclusions are limited to a lifetime total of $5,3400 ($10,680,000 for married couples for Tax Year 2014.ift Taxes-What You Need to Know: If you give someone a gift or gifts of money or property and the value is over the annual gift exclusion amount, you will generally owe gift taxes. If you give a gift of property, taxes must be paid on the fair market value of the item (not the purchase price, nor the original value).