(FORTUNE Magazine) – I plan to give my daughter $30,000 to help her pay off some debts and buy a new car. I have heard that I can give away only $11,000 a year to anyone without having to pay taxes. Is there a way I can get around that? -- Peter

The answer is yes. It's true that under current federal law you--not the recipient--could be slapped with the so-called gift tax if you give more than $11,000 to an individual in one year. The tax can amount to almost 50% of the money you give away.

But there are several ways you can go beyond that $11,000 annual cap. For starters, the restriction applies to each spouse individually. So if you are married, you and your wife may underwrite your daughter to the tune of $22,000 a year with no tax consequences. (Note also that the ceiling on such donations is not cumulative; you can dispense cash to an unlimited number of people each year, with no maximum on the overall total, as long as each gift doesn't exceed $11,000. And the recipient can be anyone--relative, friend, complete stranger.)

You can go even further--and furnish the full $30,000 to your daughter without triggering taxes. Todd Minear, a financial planner at Kansas City--based Northland Wealth Advisors, points out that an individual may give away another $1 million--above and beyond the $11,000 annual limit--under the so-called gift-tax exemption. (That figure is doubled to $2 million for a married couple.)

Bear in mind, however, that any payments you choose to make today under the $1 million exemption will reduce the amount of money you can pass along tax-free to your heirs under the estate-tax exemption. (For 2004, that exemption is $1.5 million.)

Got a question? Send it to jrevell@fortunemail.com