How much can i give as a gift to a family member without them paying tax?

cash, i hope to live another 40 years ;-)

oh, and you get a yearly inheritance tax allowance btw, no idea what it is these days

In order not to fall foul of IHT issues.

Unlimited between Husband/Wife
£5k to Son or Daughter on marriage
£3k gift each tax year.
Small gifts of £250

You can also give any amount you like from your income, as long as it does not affect your standard of living.

Amounts over the £3k or £5k allowance are written back into the donor's estate should they die within 3 years. There is then a sliding scale up to 7 years, when the gift is no longer considered part of the donor's estate but - donors can fall foul of the 'impoverishment' rules, which do not allow people to give their capital away, and then thow themselves on the State. There is no time limit on, say, Local Authorities 'recovering' gifts that fall outside the IHT limits, in the event of a donor being taken into care at the authorities expense..

As long as you live for a further 7 years & don't impoverish yourself you should be fine to give away as much as you like.

There's one law: don't get caught. Stick to cash and say nowt, I'd say.

if you die the day after giving them money the most is the IHt threshold which is about £312,000 plus £6,000 for yearly allowance times two