What is the difference between an estate tax and a gift tax?

Estate taxes are the taxes imposed on a decedents estate, whether state, federal or both) to remove the property out of the decedents name and placed into a living beneficiary's name. A gift tax is a tax on any gifted amount over the maximum lifetime gifts made by an individual from their estate to another party. This gift tax is paid by the individual giving the gift, not the person receiving the gift. The federal amount per person for a gift changes and you must keep note of this, however this gifted amount can be given each year to any number of people with no gift tax so long as it is under the maximum life amount for gifting under the uniform gifting code.