A navy gift box on a walnut desk holding a jar of golden honey, a dark chocolate bar, a small glass candle with pressed flowers and a folded tea towel, with a blank card and a fountain pen beside it

Client Gifts in Denver: The Limits, the Budget and the Box

Published 15 Oct 20266 min read

Every December, offices across Denver work through the same list: the clients who closed this year, the referral partners, the accounts that renewed. Law firms, wealth managers, accountants, real estate agents and medical practices all send something. Most of the effort goes into choosing what. The question that should come first is who, because the person on the other end may work under a rule that decides how much the gift can be worth, and the sender has a tax rule of their own.

This guide puts those rules in one place, then builds three client gifts that sit under them, with Colorado-made picks for a gift that says where it came from and a short section on closing gifts for real estate clients. For the logistics of a long national list, the corporate and client gifting guide covers tiers, allergens and timing.

Start with who the client is

Four rules come up most often for a Denver client list. The first applies to the sender. The others apply to particular recipients, and each is set by a different body.

Who it applies to	The limit	Set by
Any business sending a gift (the tax deduction)	$25 deductible per recipient per year; incidental costs such as engraving, packing or shipping are not counted if they add no substantial value	IRS
Brokers and other registered people at FINRA member firms	$300 per person per year, up from $100, effective March 30, 2026	FINRA Rule 3220
Federal employees receiving a gift	$20 per source per occasion, and no more than $50 from one source in a calendar year	5 CFR 2635.204
Colorado public officers and government employees	$75, the current Article XXIX gift limit, until it is readjusted in the first quarter of 2027	Colorado Independent Ethics Commission

The $25 line. The IRS lets a business deduct no more than $25 of the cost of business gifts given directly or indirectly to each person during the tax year. A $60 gift is allowed, but $25 of it is the deductible part. The IRS adds that when spouses both give gifts to the same person, they are treated as one taxpayer.

Brokers. FINRA raised the gift limit in Rule 3220 from $100 to $300 per person per year, with the change effective March 30, 2026. Many firms set their own policy below the rule, so the compliance desk has the final word.

Government clients. A federal employee may accept unsolicited gifts worth $20 or less per source per occasion, up to $50 from one source in a calendar year, and the exception does not cover cash. In Colorado, Article XXIX of the state constitution sets the gift ban for public officers and government employees; the Independent Ethics Commission raised the limit to $75 in 2023, from $65, and it is due to be readjusted in the first quarter of 2027. A firm that works with city, state or school district clients should check before sending anything.

Three client gifts, priced to the lines

Under $25: honey and a bar. A squeeze bottle of Bee Squared Apiaries orange blossom honey, a medium-bodied varietal honey with a distinct citrus flavor, from a Colorado-based apiary (shop Bee Squared orange blossom honey), and a Dick Taylor brown butter bar: 73 percent Northerner Blend dark chocolate infused with browned Humboldt Creamery butter and finished with roasted cacao nibs and sea salt (shop the Dick Taylor brown butter bar). At listed prices the two come to $23.50, under the IRS $25 line. For a federal client, whose limit is $20 per occasion, send one of the two. The honey complete guide explains varietal honeys.

About $67: a Colorado box. For a client who should know the gift came from here. A Rosy Rings pressed floral candle, hand poured with a coconut wax blend and handmade in Colorado, with dried flowers set between panes of glass, in the Tomato Vine scent with a 35-hour burn time (shop the Rosy Rings Tomato Vine candle). The Bee Squared honey from the first box. A Geometry tea towel in the Greetings from Colorado design (shop the Greetings from Colorado tea towel). And a Greetings from Colorful Colorado letterpress postcard from Ladyfingers Letterpress, the Colorado Springs card shop founded by Arley-Rose Torsone and Morgan Calderini (shop the Colorful Colorado postcard), to carry the handwritten note. Pack it in the navy gift box with a magnetic flap, 14 by 9 inches (shop the navy magnetic gift box). This box sits under the Colorado public-employee limit and the FINRA cap, and above the $25 deduction. The candle care guide explains why the first burn matters.

About $150: one remarkable thing. For the client who made the year, and who is not a government employee. The Mariage Frères Grand Coffret Henri is a presentation case of eighteen individual tins of the Paris house's teas, 302 grams in all (shop the Grand Coffret Henri). It is a gift that is opened one tin at a time through the spring, which is the point of a client gift. The Grand Coffret Henri guide goes through the eighteen teas. At this price it sits inside FINRA's $300 cap and well above every other line in the table.

Gift	Listed price	Under $25 IRS line	Federal client	Colorado public client	FINRA cap
Honey and a bar	$23.50	Yes	One item, under $20	Yes	Yes
Colorado box	About $67	$25 deductible	No	Yes	Yes
Grand Coffret Henri	$152	$25 deductible	No	No	Yes

Closing gifts for real estate clients

A closing gift goes to a new kitchen. Buyers have just moved, the cupboards are empty and the first week is takeout and boxes. The useful gift is the one that makes the first meal at home possible: salt, something sweet, a towel for the oven door. Jacobsen Salt Co.'s infused salt slide tin collection holds Pure Flake salt and five infused salts in small sliding tins (shop the Jacobsen slide tin collection), and pairs well with the Greetings from Colorado towel and a jar of honey. For buyers new to the state, the guide to cooking at altitude in Denver is a kind link to put on the card, since water boils at a lower temperature here and recipes behave differently. The housewarming pantry gift guide has more for a new kitchen.

The card does the selling

A client gift without a note is a delivery. Write one sentence about the year and one about the gift: "Thank you for trusting us with the move. The honey is from a Colorado apiary; it is good in tea and on toast." Handwritten, on a letterpress card or postcard, it is the part that gets kept. The greeting card guide covers letterpress and engraved cards.

Building a client gift in Cherry Creek

The Ambrosian Pantry is at 263 Josephine Street in Cherry Creek, Denver, and visitors can ask staff questions in the shop while putting a box together. Products ship across the continental U.S. from theambrosianpantry.com, so a client list that reaches beyond Denver can start from the same boxes. The Cherry Creek district guide covers the neighborhood.

Short answers

How much can a business deduct for a client gift? $25 per recipient per year, under the IRS business gift rule. Incidental costs such as engraving, packing or shipping are not counted toward the $25 if they do not add substantial value.

Can a broker give clients gifts? For people at FINRA member firms, Rule 3220 caps gifts at $300 per person per year from March 30, 2026. Firm policy may be stricter.

Can I send a gift to a client who works for the City of Denver or the State of Colorado? Colorado's Article XXIX limit for public officers and government employees is $75 until it is readjusted in early 2027. Ask the client's office first.

What is a good closing gift for a homebuyer? Something for the first week in the new kitchen: good salt, honey, a tea towel and a card.

A client gift is remembered for fitting: the right size for the rules the client works under, from a place the client can picture, with a sentence that names what the year was. Start with the table, then choose the box.