Who Must File — 2025 Inst 709-NA (PDF)

In general. If you are an NRNC, you must file a Form 709-NA (whether or not any tax is ultimately due) in the following situations.

If, in 2025, you gave gifts of real or tangible personal property situated within the United States to someone in 2025 totaling more than the annual exclusion amount of $19,000 ($190,000 in the case of gifts to your spouse who is not a citizen of the United States), you probably must file Form 709-NA. But see Transfers Not Subject to the Gift Tax and Gifts to Your Spouse , later, for more information on specific gifts

that are not taxable.

Certain gifts, called future interests, are not subject to the annual exclusions. You must file Form 709-NA even if such gifts were under the annual exclusions. See Annual Exclusion, later.

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Spouses may not file a joint gift tax return. Each individual is responsible to file a Form 709-NA.
If a taxable gift is of community property, it is considered made one-half by each spouse. For example, a gift of $100,000 of community property is considered a gift of $50,000 made by each spouse, and each spouse must file a gift tax return (Form 709 or 709-NA, as appropriate).
Likewise, each spouse must file a gift tax return (Form 709 or 709-NA, as appropriate) if they have made a gift of property held by them as joint tenants or tenants by the entirety.
Only individuals are required to file gift tax returns. If a trust, estate, partnership, or corporation makes a gift, the individual beneficiaries, partners, or stockholders are considered donors and may be liable for the gift and GST taxes.
The donor is responsible for paying the gift tax. However, if the donor does not pay the tax, the person receiving the gift may have to pay the tax.
If a donor dies before filing a return, the donor's executor must file the return.

Note: If you are a taxpayer to whom section 877(b) applies for the tax year which includes the date of the transfer, you are required to file a Form 709-NA to report gifts of U.S.-situs intangible property and certain stock. See sections 2501(a)(3), 2501(a)(5), 2511(b), and 877.

Who does not need to file. If you meet all of the following requirements, you are not required to file Form 709-NA.

You made no gifts during the year to your spouse.
You did not give more than $19,000 to any one donee.
All the gifts you made were of present interests.

Unless you are a taxpayer to whom section 877(b) applies, you are also not required to file if your only gifts, regardless of the amount, were of intangible property situated within the United States or other property not situated within the United States for gift tax purposes. Examples of intangible property situated within the United States are stock of U.S. corporations or debt obligations of a U.S. person.

Note: If you made a transfer of property, for less than full and adequate consideration, to a closely held corporation, partnership, or limited liability company situated within the United States holding U.S. real or tangible personal property, and subsequently transfer an interest in that entity, details of the original contribution to that entity should be documented. Failure to disclose such a transfer of real or tangible personal property to the entity on a timely filed Form 709-NA with supporting documents may result in a subsequent determination that a taxable gift was made and not adequately disclosed. See Adequate Disclosure, later.

Coordination with Form 709. If you were a U.S. citizen or resident for part of 2025 and made a reportable gift during this time, you must report all gifts that you made during 2025 on Form 709. Unless otherwise specified, the Instructions for Form 709 describe your reporting requirements for the period of 2025 in which you were a U.S. citizen or resident, and these Instructions for Form

Note: See Pub. 526, Charitable Contributions, for more information on identifying a qualified charity.

If you are required to file a return to report noncharitable gifts and you made gifts to charities, you must include all of your gifts to charities on the return.

Transfers Subject to the Gift Tax If you are an NRNC, the federal gift tax generally applies to any transfer by gift of real or tangible personal property situated in the United States that you made directly or indirectly, in trust, or by any other means.

The gift tax applies not only to the free transfer of any kind of property, but also to sales or exchanges, not made in the ordinary course of business, where value of the money (or property) received is less than the value of what is sold or exchanged. The gift tax is in addition to any other tax, such as federal income tax, paid or due on the transfer.

The exercise or release of a general power of appointment may be a gift by the individual possessing the power. General powers of appointment are those in which the holders of the power can appoint the property under the power to themselves, their creditors, their estates, or the creditors of their estates. To qualify as a power of appointment, it must be created by someone other than the holder of the power.

Sections 2701 (see Section 2701 Elections , later) and 2702 provide rules for determining whether certain transfers to a family member of interests in corporations, partnerships, and trusts are gifts. The rules of section 2704 determine whether the lapse of any voting or liquidation right is a gift.

709-NA describe your reporting requirements for the period of 2025 in which you were an NRNC.

Gift tax treaties. Gift tax treaties are in effect with the following countries.

Australia.
Austria.
Denmark.
France.
Germany.
Japan.
United Kingdom.

If you are reporting any items on this return based on the provisions of a gift tax treaty or protocol, attach Form 8833 to this return indicating that the return position is treaty-based. See Regulations section 301.6114-1 for details.

Gifts to charities. For nonresidents not citizens of the United States, for a charitable gift to be deductible, the gift must be to a U.S. charity or trust, and the charity or trust must use the gifted assets within the United States.

If the only gifts you made during the year are deductible as gifts to charities, you do not need to file a return as long as you transferred your entire interest in the property to qualifying charities. If you transferred only a partial interest, or transferred part of your interest to someone other than a charity, you must still file a return and report all of your gifts to charities.

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Gifts to your spouse. If you are an NRNC, you must file a gift tax return if you made any gift to your U.S. citizen spouse of a terminable interest that does not meet the exception as described later under Life estate with power of appointment , or if your spouse is not a U.S. citizen and the total gifts you made to your spouse in the 2025 tax year exceed $190,000.

You must also file a gift tax return to make the qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) election described under Line 17. Election Out of QTIP Treatment of Annuities , later.

Except as described earlier, you do not have to file a gift tax return to report gifts to your spouse regardless of the amount of these gifts and regardless of whether the gifts are present or future interests.

Contributions to a qualified tuition program (QTP) on behalf of a designated beneficiary do not qualify for the educational exclusion. See Line A. Qualified Tuition Programs (529 Plans or Programs) under Schedule A, later.

Transfers Not Subject to the Gift Tax Four types of transfers are not subject to the gift tax. These are:

Transfers to political organizations,
Transfers to certain exempt organizations,
Payments that qualify for the educational exclusion, and
Payments that qualify for the medical exclusion.

These transfers are not “gifts” as that term is used on Form 709-NA and in its instructions. You need not file a Form 709-NA to report these transfers and should not list them on Schedule A of Form 709-NA if you do file Form 709-NA.

Political organizations. The gift tax does not apply to a transfer to a political organization (defined in section 527(e)(1)) for the use of the organization.

Certain exempt organizations. The gift tax does not apply to a transfer to any civic league or other organization described in section 501(c)(4); any labor, agricultural, or horticultural organization described in section 501(c)(5); or any business league or other organization described in section 501(c)(6) for the use of such organization, provided that such organization is exempt from tax under section 501(a). Also, see Line 7. Charitable Deduction , later.

Educational exclusion. The gift tax does not apply to an amount you paid on behalf of an individual to a qualifying domestic or foreign educational organization as tuition for the education or training of the individual. A qualifying educational organization is one that normally maintains a regular faculty and curriculum and normally has a regularly enrolled body of pupils or students in attendance at the place where its educational activities are regularly carried on. See section 170(b)(1)(A)(ii) and its regulations.

The payment must be made directly to the qualifying educational organization and it must be for tuition. No educational exclusion is allowed for amounts paid for books, supplies, room and board, or other similar expenses that are not direct tuition costs. To the extent that the payment to the educational organization was for something other than tuition, it is a gift to the individual for whose benefit it was made, and may be offset by the annual exclusion if it is otherwise available.

Medical exclusion. The gift tax does not apply to an amount you paid on behalf of an individual to a person or institution that provided medical care for the individual. The payment must be to the care provider. The medical care must meet the requirements of section 213(d) (definition of medical care for income tax deduction purposes). Medical care includes expenses incurred for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or for the purpose of affecting any structure or function of the body, or for transportation primarily for and essential to medical care. Medical care also includes amounts paid for medical insurance on behalf of any individual.

The medical exclusion does not apply to amounts paid for medical care that are reimbursed by the donee's insurance. If payment for a medical expense is reimbursed by the donee's insurance company, your payment for that expense, to the extent of the reimbursed amount, is not eligible for the medical exclusion and you are considered to have made a gift to the donee of the reimbursed amount.

To the extent that the payment was for something other than medical care, it is a gift to the individual on whose behalf the payment was made and may be offset by the annual exclusion if it is otherwise available.

The medical and educational exclusions are allowed without regard to the relationship between you and the donee. For examples illustrating these exclusions, see Regulations section 25.2503-6(c).

Qualified disclaimers. A donee's refusal to accept a gift is called a disclaimer. If a person makes a qualified disclaimer of any interest in property, the property will be treated as if it had never been transferred to that person. Accordingly, the disclaimant is not regarded as making a gift to the person who receives the property because of the qualified disclaimer.

Requirements. To be a qualified disclaimer, a refusal to accept an interest in property must meet the following conditions.

The refusal must be in writing.
The refusal must be received by the donor, the legal representative of the donor, the holder of the legal title to the property disclaimed, or the person in possession of the property within 9 months after the later of:

a. The day the transfer creating the interest is made,

b. The day the disclaimant reaches age 21.

The disclaimant must not have accepted the interest or any of its benefits.
As a result of the refusal, the interest must pass without any direction from the disclaimant to either:

a. The spouse of the decedent, or

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b. A person other than the disclaimant.

The refusal must be irrevocable and unqualified.

The 9-month period for making the disclaimer is generally determined separately for each taxable transfer. For gifts, the period begins on the date the transfer is a completed transfer for gift tax purposes.

Annual Exclusion The first $19,000 of gifts of present interest to each donee during the calendar year is subtracted from total gifts in figuring the amount of taxable gifts. For a gift in trust, each beneficiary of the trust is treated as a separate donee for purposes of the annual exclusion, but a gift in trust might not be a gift of a present interest.

All of the gifts made during the calendar year to a donee are fully excluded under the annual exclusion if they are all gifts of present interest and they total $19,000 or less.

Note: For gifts made to spouses who are not U.S. citizens, the annual exclusion is $190,000, provided the additional (above the $19,000 annual exclusion) $171,000 gift would otherwise qualify for the gift tax marital deduction (as described in the Schedule A, Part 4, line 4, instructions, later).

Note: Only the annual exclusion (and not the marital deduction) applies to gifts made to spouses who are not citizens of the United States. Deductions and credits are not considered in determining gift tax liability for such transfers. But see Gift tax treaties , earlier.

A gift of a future interest cannot be excluded under the annual exclusion.

A gift is considered a present interest if the donee has all immediate rights to the use, possession, and enjoyment of the property or income from the property.

A gift is considered a future interest if the donee's rights to the use, possession, and enjoyment of the property or income from the property will not begin until some future date. Future interests include reversions, remainders, and other similar interests or estates.

A contribution to a QTP or to a qualified ABLE program on behalf of a designated beneficiary is considered a gift of a present interest.

A gift to a minor is considered a present interest if all of the following conditions are met.

Both the property and its income may be expended by, or for the benefit of, the minor before the minor reaches age 21.
All remaining property and its income must pass to the minor on the minor's 21st birthday.
If the minor dies before the age of 21, the property and its income will be payable either to the minor's estate or to whomever the minor may appoint under a general power of appointment.

The gift of a present interest to more than one donee as joint tenants qualifies for the annual exclusion for each donee.

Transfers Subject to the GST Tax You must report on Form 709-NA the GST tax imposed on inter vivos direct skips. An inter vivos direct skip is a transfer made during the donor's lifetime that is:

Subject to the gift tax,
Of an interest in property, and
Made to a skip person. (See Gifts Subject to Both Gift and GST Taxes, later.)

A transfer is subject to the gift tax if it is required to be reported on Schedule A of Form 709-NA under the rules contained in the gift tax portions of these instructions. Therefore, transfers made to political organizations, transfers made to certain exempt organizations, transfers that qualify for the medical or educational exclusion, transfers that are fully excluded under the annual exclusion, and most transfers made to your spouse are not subject to the GST tax.

Transfers subject to the GST tax are described in further detail in the instructions.

Caution: Certain transfers, particularly transfers to a trust, that are not subject to gift tax and are therefore not subject to the GST tax on Form 709-NA may be subject to the GST tax at a later date. This is true even if the transfer is less than the $19,000 annual exclusion. In this instance, you may want to apply a GST exemption amount to the transfer on this return or on a Notice of Allocation. However, you should be aware that a GST exemption may be automatically allocated to the gift if the trust that receives the gift is a “GST trust” (as defined under section 2632(c)). For more information, see Part 2—GST Exemption Reconciliation under Schedule D , and Part 3—Indirect Skips and Other Transfers in Trust under Schedule A .

Transfers Subject to an Estate Tax Inclusion Period (ETIP) Certain transfers receive special treatment if the transferred property is subject to an ETIP. An ETIP is the period during which, should the donor die, the value of transferred property would be includible (other than by reason of section 2035) in the gross estate of the donor or the spouse of the donor. For transfers subject to an ETIP, GST tax reporting is required at the close of the ETIP.

For example, if A transfers a house to a qualified personal residence trust for a term of 10 years, with the remainder to A’s granddaughter, the value of the house would be includible in A’s estate if A died within the 10-year period during which A retained an interest in the trust. In this case, a portion of the transfer to the trust is a completed gift that must be reported in Part 1 of Schedule A. The GST portion of the transfer would not be reported until A died or A’s interest in the trust otherwise ended.

Report the gift portion of such a transfer on Schedule A, Part 1, at the time of the actual transfer. Report the GST portion on Schedule D, Part 1, but only at the close of the ETIP. Use Form 709-NA only to report those transfers where the ETIP closed due to something other than the donor's death. (If the ETIP closed as the result of the donor's death, report the transfer on Form 706, United

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States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return.)

If you are filing this Form 709-NA solely to report the GST portion of transfers subject to an ETIP, complete the form as you normally would with the following exceptions.

Write “ETIP” at the top of page 1.
Complete only lines 1 through 4, 8 through 11, and 15 through 18 of Part I—General Information.
Complete Schedule D. Complete columns (b) and (c) of Schedule D, Part 1, as explained in the instructions for that schedule.
Complete only lines 10 and 11 of Schedule A, Part 4.
Complete Part 2—Tax Computation.

Section 2701 Elections

Caution: Section 2701 elections may only be made by an NRNC whose transfer of property is taxable under section 2501(a)(3) or (a)(5). The special valuation rules of section 2701 contain three elections that you can make only with Form 709-NA.

A transferor may elect to treat a qualified payment right that the transferor holds (and all other rights of the same class) as other than a qualified payment right.
A person may elect to treat a distribution right held by that person in a controlled entity as a qualified payment right.
An interest holder may elect to treat as a taxable event the payment of a qualified payment that occurs more than 4 years after its due date.

The elections described in (1) and (2) must be made on the Form 709-NA that is filed by the transferor to report the transfer that is being valued under section 2701. The elections are made by attaching a statement to Form 709-NA. For information on what must be in the statement and for definitions and other details on the elections, see section 2701 and Regulations section 25.2701-2(c).

The election described in (3) may be made by attaching a statement to the Form 709-NA filed by the recipient of the qualified payment for the year the payment is received. If the election is made on a timely filed return, the taxable event is deemed to occur on the date the qualified payment is received. If it is made on a late-filed return, the taxable event is deemed to occur on the first day of the month immediately preceding the month in which the return is filed. For information on what must be in the statement and for definitions and other details on this election, see section 2701 and Regulations section 25.2701-4(d).

All of the elections may be revoked, but only with the consent of the IRS.

Taxation of Gifts From Certain Expatriates

Section 2801 tax. Section 2801 imposes a tax on the receipt of covered gifts and covered bequests by a U.S. citizen or resident from a covered expatriate during a calendar year. The section 2801 tax is paid by the U.S.

citizen or resident, domestic trust, or electing foreign trust that receives the covered gift or covered bequest. For more information on the section 2801 tax, see section 2801 and Regulations section 28.2801. Form 709-NA should be timely filed to avoid the potential for subjecting property to both gift tax (payable by the covered expatriate making the gift) and the section 2801 tax (payable by the U.S. citizen or resident receiving the property). See section 2801(e)(2)(A) and Regulations section 28.2801-3(c)(1) for details.