Receiving money from US as gift

My parents-in-law (US) would like to gift me (I''m the Brit) a Christmas gift of money for my wife and I but would like to give it to me directly. They;re in the US, I'm here in the UK.

They want to do this by transfer of some kind, and I don't want them to waste money in ridiculous fees and also although this gift is generous, it's not ridiculously huge, but I know that I need to be aware of any tax considerations. I wouldn't want to fall foul of any rules, especially with visa applications.

What's the best way to do this? And what taxes, if any, would I be liable to?

There are no gift tax consequences at all for the receiver either in the US or UK.

If your in-laws make a gift the annual limit per person without need to report it is $15k so they can gift up to $30k with nothing to report. Above that they would simply need to report it to the IRS using form 709, no tax just a report. Lifetime max is over $11m per person before any tax is due.

Thanks so much! It feels weird to investigate one's own christmas present. No where near that, but happy days!

Does anyone recommend a particular method of transfer?

Transfer wise.  It’s what we alllllll use.

I and a lot of people here use Transferwise. It really is so simple and inexpensive. Download the app to your phone and once set up transfers are simple. I made a transfer from U.S. to U.K account and it had taken 4 seconds.... The U.S. account had taken a day to update though. I would send a very small amount as a 'test' before making any larger transfer.

I and a lot of people here use Transferwise. It really is so simple and inexpensive. Download the app to your phone and once set up transfers are simple. I made a transfer from U.S. to U.K account and it had taken 4 seconds.... The U.S. account had taken a day to update though. I would send a very small amount as a 'test' before making any larger transfer.

I agree, and have done lots of Transferwise transactions from my laptop and also using the app.