Shared Equity vs Gift Tax

[bsgk]

My father is going to help me purchase a house. He is going to give
me $77,500 to help with the purchase. The ultimate intent is that
once I sell the house, I would give him back his money plus some
portion of the profits.

Now, I know there is a shared equity agreement that we can use. I
think it means that I have to pay rent to him for his portion of the
equity, but that he can pay some expenses or part of the mortgage from
a joint account. His lawyer & accountant are looking into it.

That's all fine, but I wanted something more simple, and I was curious
if he could gift me the money now, file the appropriate return, but
have no taxes due because of the lifetime exemption. Once I sell the
home, I could gift him a sum that accounts for his initial gift and
pre-determined portion of the profit. I'd then file a return to show
the gift, but again have no taxes due because of the lifetime
exemption.

Does my gifting method run afoul of any rules regarding gifts and how
they are taxes? If we are comfortable enough with not signing a
contract (no need to comment on why that would be dumb), is the any
reason we couldn't just use the gifts to complete our transactions?

Thanks.

[kastnna]

The most obvious drawback is that the gifts exceed the annual gift
exclusion amount. As a result, part of your lifetime exclusion would
be used (and the total reduced), which could make a larger portion of
your estate subject to taxation upon your demise. Of course both your
heirs and your father's heirs will get hit with this. The size of the
estates will determine just how much or how little this will effect
things.

Is your father married? Are you married? The $12k annual limit is not
cumulative. You can accept gifts from mulitple donors and donors can
make $12k gifts to mulitple donees. A mother/father team can
effectively give $96k to a son/daughter(in-law).