Is a gift of cash taxable to the recipient

Cash gifts received are generally not taxable income to the recipient.

However, the donor (person giving the gift) may have gift tax obligations if the gift exceeds the annual exclusion amount, which is $18,000 per recipient for 2024 [2]. If the gift exceeds this amount, the donor must file Form 709 and the excess amount will count against their lifetime gift tax exclusion of $13,610,000 [3].