Dean Paul Caron Interviewed in "We're Paying for Our Daughter's Wedding. Is It a Taxable Gift?" -- Wall Street Journal

Dean Paul L. Caron is interviewed in the Wall Street Journal article, "We're Paying for Our Daughter's Wedding. Is It a Taxable Gift?"  The article answers questions about annual gift giving and taxes.

Excerpt from "We're Paying for Our Daughter's Wedding. Is It a Taxable Gift?"

Q: My husband and I each plan to give our adult children $14,000 this year. My daughter may marry this year, and we would like to pay for much of the wedding. Could paying for the caterer or another wedding supplier count as a taxable gift if we pay the vendor directly?—a reader in Lexington, Ky.

A: You probably can pay for the wedding without fearing the taxmen. Paul Caron, a professor specializing in gift and estate taxes who is also dean of Pepperdine Caruso Law School, says, “In all my years in tax, I’ve never seen a case or ruling involving parents’ payments for a child’s wedding. So I wouldn’t feel I have to tell parents they owe gift tax on the cost of a wedding.”

He adds that often a wedding is more for the parents than the child, as in, “We’ve waited all this time...” However, he does advise parents to pay wedding bills directly to suppliers rather than giving money to the child for payments.

The complete article may be found at Wall Street Journal (subscription required)