thisismogambo: "I posted this on the discussion board and it was suggested that I post it here.

Is there something legal about gifting to self?"

This question makes no sense to me. How can one gift something to oneself that one already owns?

"I saw a couple of company employees gifting shares to themselves."

Whose shares were they? Remember, that as a general rule, a corporation is a separate legal entity from its shareholders. If the shares were owned by the corporation and the employees were officers with this authority, then I suspect that they were not gifts.

"What about gifting money to yourself?"

Again, this makes no sense to me.

"doesn't this seem like a sleezy way to save tax?"

How does this save any taxes? I fail to see any way that this saves taxes.

"If gifting shares is possible, how do you go about doing this (go to etrade, fill what form etc)?"

Shares can definitely be gifted to another person.

"If the gift is less than 10K, is it required to file a gift tax return?"

No, and value for gift tax purposes is measured as FMV on day of gift (not by basis), which, IIRC, is average of high and low for the day (but this last statement needs to be confirmed). Basis of donor (giver) will matter for purposes of calculating gain or loss by recipient (donee).

"what about gifting money/shares to someone outside the US?"

Beyond my ken.

Regards, JAFO