A relatively easy way to reduce your taxable estate is to make annual exclusion gifts of $15,000 per recipient for 2019 and 2020. But what if you want to give away more without dipping into your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption of $11.40 million (for 2019)? An alternative strategy is to pay medical expenses on behalf of someone directly to a health care provider. Those payments are exempt from gift tax above and beyond any amount covered by the annual gift tax exclusion. The same is true for paying the tuition expenses of a student directly to the school. Contact us for details.