<prompt> Human: My wife and I just got a Christmas gift from her dad in the amount of 10k. Her dad sold some crops, and the buyer wrote out a check to us for the 10k in mine and my wifes names, rather than her dads name. Her dad basically said he would rather us have the 10k, then to have to pay taxes on it. So two-ish questions:1 Is this considered a gift from her dad, or income from the buyer who wrote the check to us?2a If this is considered income, will my wife and I have to pay taxes on it this year 2015 since the check was dated prior to December 31st? Or can we include it in 2016 taxes since we havent cashed it yet?2b If we do have to pay taxes on it and can choose between 2015 and 2016, which do you suppose would be more advantageous to us? In odd years including 2015, I get to claim my son as a dependent. My ex-wife claims him in even years. So my wife and I are looking forward to that tax benefit when we file our taxes in the coming months. Also, my wife and I just had a baby in November...another tax break! Were worried that claiming the 10k in 2015 is going to bump us to a higher bracket and wipe out those tax breaks weve been anticipating. Thoughts?edit: I want to note that I dont think her dad is not intentionally trying to do anything illegal. He told us that there is more than enough there to pay taxes on it, so he figured we would have to claim it as income. I got the impression than it would hurt him tax-wise more to claim it before gifting it to us, but Im not sure how that works. Anyway, when I asked a friend about it, he said the 10k falls below the annual gift amount and we wouldnt have to claim it either. Again, I am not exactly sure how all the taxes work.  <response>: Her dad sold some crops, and the buyer wrote out a check to us for the 10k in mine and my wifes names, rather than her dads name. Her dad basically said he would rather us have the 10k, then to have to pay taxes on it.Thats not how it works. The money will have to me taxable to someone. It should be taxable to your FIL since is it was his crops he sold and he is probably writing off the expenses seeds, fertilizer, etcThis is a grey area. The receiver of a gift has no tax obligation. This is clearly a gift but you are possibly taking part in an income tax evasion scheme. You might want to get the advice of a tax professional. 