The most important exemption: gifts received from specified relatives — parents, spouse, siblings, and a few other defined relations — are entirely tax-free, regardless of amount. A ₹10 lakh gift from a parent to a child is not taxable income for the child.
Gifts from non-relatives (friends, distant relatives not on the specified list) are tax-free only up to ₹50,000 in aggregate per financial year. Cross that threshold, and the entire amount — not just the excess — becomes taxable as income at your slab rate. Gifts received on the occasion of marriage are exempt regardless of who gives them or the amount, which is a specific carve-out worth knowing about.
Property and other assets received as gifts follow similar rules based on their fair market value. If you're planning a large transfer of money or property outside your immediate family, it's worth checking which category it falls into before assuming it's automatically tax-free.