Does an UGMA/UTMA transfer constitute a gift for federal tax purposes?
There is no clear guidance that definitively resolves this question at this time. That being said, we at Putnam are taking a conservative position that these transfers should be treated as gifts. Thus, an UTMA/UGMA custodian would not want to transfer more than $60,000 in a single year (with no additional contributions for the next 4 years) or the standard $12,000 per year, since transfers in excess of those amounts could give rise to gift taxes.
