Joint Tenancy

If you buy property with your own funds and the title to the property is held by you and a donee as joint tenants with right of survivorship and if either you or the donee may give up those rights by severing your interest, you have made a gift to the donee in the amount of half the value of the property.

If you create a joint bank account for yourself and a donee (or a similar kind of ownership by which you can get back the entire fund without the donee’s consent), you have made a gift to the donee when the donee draws on the account for the donee’s own benefit. The amount of the gift is the amount that the donee took out without any obligation to repay you.

If you buy a U.S. savings bond registered as payable to yourself or a donee, there is a gift to the donee when the donee cashes the bond without any obligation to account to you.

Caution: To begin the running of the statute of limitations for a gift, the gift must be adequately disclosed on Form 709 (or an attached statement) filed for the year of the gift.

In general, a gift will be considered adequately disclosed if the return or statement includes the following.

• A full and complete Form 709.

• A description of the transferred property and any consideration received by the donor.

• The identity of, and relationship between, the donor and each donee.

• If the property is transferred in trust, the trust’s employer identification number (EIN) and a brief description of the

6 Instructions for Form 709 (2025)