[Noah930]

Asking for a friend (really)....

Annual gift exemption in the eyes of the IRS is $19,000. I know of one person, who wants to gift a family member more than that ($25K). Well, that's gonna trigger a gift tax.

OK, but perhaps the gift can be split into two: $12.5K for one person, and $12.5K for the person's spouse. That avoids any gift tax, right?

But still, isn't there some single-transaction dollar amount by which a bank/financial institution has to notify the IRS? Even if someone is gifted less than $19K, a check that large will trigger bank-to-IRS notifications, correct? Is it better to make multiple checks for smaller amounts to avoid that type of IRS attention? Would 4 checks for $6K (split amongst 2 recipients) be better than two large ones (to those same 2 people) for $12K?