what is gift splitting 
the term gift splitting refers to an estate planning tool that married couples can use to double their allowed annual gift tax exclusion amount the gift tax exclusion is the amount that someone can transfer to another person as a gift without having to pay the gift tax levied by the internal revenue service irs couples can use gift splitting to provide financial help to family or friends and avoid paying the gift tax married couples who want to take advantage of gift splitting must file joint tax returns in order to qualify 