Money pay back question

[LonArcvarden]

My oldest son lent his younger brother $50,000 to pay off some of his student loans. At the time I didn’t have access to the cash but I do now. I don’t want money to ever become an issue between them so I’m going give him back his 50K. My question is how do I do this so there is no tax issues on his end. There must be a way to do this so the government doesn’t come calling. Thanks in advance.

[Oreganus]

If it were me, I’d pay your oldest back so things stay clean and no one ends up stewing about it later. I’ve leaned on stuff like a $3k loan before to smooth out timing issues in my own family, and it kept us from mixing up who owed what. Squaring things now might save a lot of side‑eye down the road.