Receiving gift from the US

Hi.  I've been living in the UK for about 4 years.  My father back in the US has told me he would like to gift my wife and I some money to help us to buy a house.

He wants to keep the amount under the $17,000 limit to avoid taxes on the US side, and then do that each year for a few years.

My questions are:

A) Will this be taxed on the UK side?  Gov.UK seems to say that there won't be any UK taxes on this because we're under the £325K limit. https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax/gifts Do I have that right?

B) I usually do small transfers via Wise.  Is that the best way to do these larger amounts as well?

Thanks so much!

When you receive a gift of this size a clock starts ticking and if the UK giver lives for another 7 years then no inheritance tax is ever due. But as your father is living in the USA I don’t think he will be subject to UK inheritance rules anyway.

Wise is a good choice to transfer this amount of money, I have done transfers many times at this level.

I do want to mention that even if your father gifts you over that amount you mentioned, although he has to report it to the IRS, he shouldn't have to pay an out-of-pocket tax (from the US side) unless he's already gifted over the lifetime estate exemption (unlikely unless you come from a fairly wealthy family as that amount is over $10 million - that is the whole intent of the gift tax to prevent wealthy families from dodging estate/inheritance taxes).

Here's how this works (to clear up this misconception that tax will automatically be due on an gift over that $17,000 figure you mentioned):
https://www.thebalancemoney.com/how-is-the-gift-tax-calculated-3505674

I do want to mention that even if your father gifts you over that amount you mentioned, although he has to report it to the IRS, he shouldn't have to pay an out-of-pocket tax (from the US side) unless he's already gifted over the lifetime estate exemption (unlikely unless you come from a fairly wealthy family as that amount is over $10 million - that is the whole intent of the gift tax to prevent wealthy families from dodging estate/inheritance taxes).

Here's how this works (to clear up this misconception that tax will automatically be due on an gift over that $17,000 figure you mentioned):
https://www.thebalancemoney.com/how-is-the-gift-tax-calculated-3505674

Good to point that out.

For gifts over the annual reporting limit ($17k?) the giver has to file IRS  form 709 which is a pain to complete I think, having done so once in the past, so I can understand why the father wishes to keep it simple and stick to the annual limit to avoid filling in more tax forms. The time I did it I had to do so manually because TurboTax doesn’t hold that form.

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-709

Thank you both so much. This is very helpful information.  This forum is truly an amazing place.