Wedding, birthday, Christmas How much can I give my child without declaring it?

By wetretrjyu
16/11/2022
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Nathalie Couzigou-Suhas, notary in Paris, helps you to distinguish between the present of use and the gift. A nuance that is not without consequences when settling a succession. Wedding, birthday, Christmas How much can I give my child without declaring it?

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A so-called “present of use” gift must be proportionate to your resources and your lifestyle. If it exceeds between 2 and 3% of your assets or your annual income, the tax authorities may reclassify it as a disguised donation and reincorporate it into the taxable assets at the time of the succession. Thus, a diamond ring will be considered as the customary present of a millionaire to her daughter, but as a disguised gift in a modest family. Ask yourself the question: can I renew this gift without it affecting my lifestyle?

Usual gifts should only be given during special events – weddings, birthdays, passing an exam, end-of-year celebrations... Do not hesitate to be explicit, for example by writing on the back of the check "Happy birthday, my darling".

Wedding, birthday, Christmas How much then can I give to my child without declaring it?

Making a present of use does not require any action, either with the tax authorities or with his heirs.

Gifts not taken into account in the estate

As long as they are customary gifts, they are not counted in the estate, unlike donations. If a child has obviously been more spoiled than his brothers and sisters, the latter cannot ask for compensation, even if the value of the gifts has reduced their hereditary reserve.

The value of the present is assessed on the day it was offered. Thus, a father had given watercolors to his daughter as a wedding present, then estimated at €10,000. At his death, they are valued at nearly a million. The brother of the bride asked for compensation, but was dismissed: it was indeed a present made for a great occasion, the initial value of which was, at the time, related to the fortune of the deceased.

Did you know?

To be declared! So-called "manual" donations (which can be made from hand to hand, such as money or jewelry), are indeed donations that must be declared to the tax authorities and which are counted in the assets at the time of a succession, which makes it possible to restore equity between brothers and sisters. Each child can receive per parent, every fifteen years, without paying gift tax, €100,000 in movable or immovable property and €31,865 in cash donations.