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

depends on

i) the gift (cash, asset, etc)
ii) how long you live

among other things

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

well then i believe cash gifts are tax free (ie no income/capital gains tax)

your only worry is inheritance tax

so don't die soon

(maybe someone else can confirm, this is my understanding but i'm not an expert)

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

*** disclaimer - do not take my advice as gospel, I AM NOT AN EXPERT

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..

sounds right - if you are earning well, you can pass on a lot. no need for trusts and silly structures.

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.

yep, a bigger hassle is if you want to gift assets, then there are capital gains tax implications i think (revenue views this as you effectively selling the asset)

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

Say you lost it to them playing cards.

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

If the family member is a child, there is a whole host of further complications relating to income tax.