The IRS recently released the 2015 tax year exclusion amounts for the unified credit (or basic exclusion) and the annual gift tax exclusion.

For the 2015 tax year, the unified credit exclusion is $5.43 million per taxpayer.  The annual gift tax exclusion remains at $14,000.

The unified credit is the combination of the lifetime gift tax exclusion and estate tax exclusion.  If your lifetime gifts and taxable estate exceed $5.43 million in 2015, you will then owe up to 40% tax to the federal government.

A good overview of the implications of the unified credit and annual gift tax exclusion is here.