If you want to avoid a taxable gift, you need to be careful with loaning money to a family member and then having portions of the loan forgiven annually. The following is an excerpt from Miller v. Commissioner 71 TCM 1674 (1996):
[Taxpayers] bear the burden of proving that [the IRS's] determinations are erroneous. . . . The question whether a taxpayer has entered into a bona fide creditor-debtor relationship pervades the Federal tax law. . . . "Transactions within a family group are subject to special scrutiny, and the presumption is that a transfer between family members is a gift". . . . That presumption may be rebutted by an affirmative showing that at the time of the transfer the transferor had a real expectation of repayment and an intention to enforce the debt. . . . The mere promise to pay a sum of money in the future accompanied by an implied understanding that such promise will not be enforced is not afforded significance for Federal tax purposes . . .