If this happens, the loss can offset any capital gains the recipient realized in the same year. This precious metal can help diversify and hedge overall portfolio risk. Gifts of shares to relatives and charities should take into account effects from the new tax law.

When you donate the shares to the charity, you can deduct the $10,000 as a charitable contribution, even though you paid only $1,000 for those shares originally, he says, resulting in a larger deduction than giving a $1,000 cash donation. By contributing several years' worth of charitable contributions in one year to a donor advised fund, you can get above the standard deduction threshold, says Solomon. Now each child owns 30%, and Senior owns 40% of the business. [See: 7 ETFs to Profit From Recent Tax Cuts.]. Net capital losses on all transactions can be taken as a deduction from income, up to an annual limit of $3,000 for all losses combined. So say you paid $1,000 for 50 shares of stock, or $20 per share. By the end of 2008, it was worth $2.5 million.

SEC.gov: Holding Your Securities -- Get the Facts, IRS.gov: Topic 409 -- Capital Gains and Losses, First Republic: Gifting to Family Members -- Pitfalls and Benefits. Tax implications. By limiting gifts to $15,000 annually per person, or $30,000 per couple, you can avoid filing an informational gift tax return with the IRS, says Solomon.

Bonds exist to serve your investment portfolio, and not just for a defensive strategy. Anytime you buy a stock, or any other valuable asset, the price you paid represents the cost basis of that asset. The tax advantages are: A gift of stock can teach some useful lessons in personal finance, business operations, the stock market and taxes. Political party gifts: you can give an Inheritance Tax-free gift to a political party under certain conditions. The tax applies whether the donor intends the transfer to be a gift or not. and have not been previously reviewed, approved or endorsed by any other For inheritance tax purposes, a gift of shares from you to your son would constitute what is known as a lifetime transfer. Learn how to profit from a market drop through these investment vehicles.

Keep in mind why you're investing in a company, or risk buying into a value trap. 7 Things That Can Derail Your Retirement Investing, the time those securities would have had to grow, California Do Not Sell My Personal Information Request. If the value of your gifted shares should diminish after you transfer them, the receiver may be able to claim a capital loss when she sells them. Both of these metrics can be used independently and together when valuing a company's stock.
Here's how it works.