Examples of el cheapo in a sentence. took an el cheapo vacation, staying at a friend's cabin the whole time.
Exclusions. The entire $50,000 you give isn't vulnerable to taxation. The IRS allows exclusions, a dollar limit you can give away tax-free. As of the 2012 tax year, the exclusion amount is $13,000 for each person you make a gift to. If you're married, you can double that: you and your spouse are each entitled to give away $13,000 per person.
The amount of the gifts given beyond those exclusions can be subject to a tax rate between 18 and 35 percent. There is however, a lifetime gift ceiling. The tax code for 2011 says you can give away $5 million in cash or items during the course of your life before the excess will be subject to the gift tax. That tax rate is 35 percent in 2011.