<prompt> Human: My dad found out he has cancer about 4 years ago. If all goes well his home will be sold this Friday and hes moved in with his girlfriend. He said my inheritance is 30,000 from the home sale, with the stipulation that I put it toward buying a house. I am currently renting, but my landlord said he might be interested in selling the house and if he does, he would give me the option to be the first buyer. I have been repairing my credit before I go through the process of getting a home loan approval, so even if I applied today, Id probably still be 3-6 months away from being ready to buy. I went to a homebuyers workshop a few months ago and the guy teaching the class said that theres a special way to show a gift on a home purchase so that it doesnt look like money laundering to the IRS, but that if you received the money up to 3 months before the purchase that you didnt need to do all that. My question is, whats the best way to do this? As far as taxes and everything are concerned, would it be smarter for me to fill out the gift form on the home purchase, or have my Dad gift me the money a little bit at a time to avoid paying as much in taxes? Someone said you can only receive 14,000 per year before you start getting taxed on it, so would it be smarter to have him give me 14,000 this year and 14,000 next year, and then use it to buy the house?edit: My dad is a pauper and this home sale is the largest windfall hes ever received. Hes never made a gift contribution in his life. He bought this house for 30k in the early 80s and has refinanced it a few times. Hes getting 240k from the sale - the proceeds are 1 paying off his mortgage; 2 my gift; 3 paying other debts; 4 buying him a new vehicle.  <response>: Unless your dad is worth over 5.something million, taxes are irrelavent. If he gifts you over 14kyear 28kyear if married, he just writes it off against his lifetime limit of 5.whatever million. If hes worth more than that, he should be consulting an estate lawyer about the best way to structure his estate to avoid taxes. 