Foreign Gift Tax in New York?

[Sandro Hagenbuch]

Hi all,

My wife and I are looking into buying our first home and have the following question for New York City (where we currently reside) / Jersey City, NJ (where the property is located) :

- I understand that it depends on the lender whether they "allow" gifts as down-payments, correct?
- My family lives in Switzerland and I was wondering whether such a wire transfer would have any tax implications? We are talking about approx. 20K. Is there something like a gift tax (not inheritance, just gift) in New York or New York City?

- Are there generally any special implications in such a gifting case (domestic or foreign money)?

I tried to google and hit mostly inheritance taxes rather then non-death gift taxes.

Thank you in advance,

Sandro