How much can I give away without paying gift taxes?

From FinancialPlanning

The annual exclusion, which is the amount you can give away before the gift is reportable, is currently $12,000 per person per calendar year. This means you can gift up to $12,000 to as many people as you want. $12,000 to your son, $12,000 to your daughter, $12,000 to the MIFP editor, and so on.

A married couple can each give $12,000 to any individual each year, which means together they can give a total of $24,000. If the money or property comes from just one spouse's account, they need to file Form 706 and elect "gift splitting" which means "hey, this gift is really from both of us."

Gifts in excess of these limits are reportable on IRS Form 706. But even then, you don't pay actual tax until the sum of all your reportable gifts over your lifetime exceeds $1,000,000. Practically speaking few people end up actually paying gift tax.

Note: the $12,000 limit is for 2006 and will change in the future. It is indexed to inflation, though it will rise only in $500 increments.