The recipient of a gift does not pay gift taxes. The payer does if they have not used up their lifetime exemption or unless it is belo the annual limit.
I believe in the US the current annual limit before a gift is taxed is $15,000.
EDIT: the point of raising it is in the context of this discussion, we are talking about the very wealthy. A $15,000 gift to their children isn't very much of a transfer as a percentage. To hand off large amounts of wealth to the next generation, for sure the annual gift exclusion isn't nearly enough to avoid inheritance taxes.
EDIT: the point of raising it is in the context of this discussion, we are talking about the very wealthy. A $15,000 gift to their children isn't very much of a transfer as a percentage. To hand off large amounts of wealth to the next generation, for sure the annual gift exclusion isn't nearly enough to avoid inheritance taxes.