It may apply to the recipient. Read your own link .
Your post stated this: "An individual has a yearly exemption of $15K for money they recieve as gifts. Anything over 15K is reportable." That is not true. The recipient doesn't have to report anything, and there is no limit on how much a recipient may receive. The donor does have a limit on how much may be given before it's reportable and taxable, and that is the exemption of $15,000 for this tax year.
There's nothing in that link that says the recipient has to do anything, or has an individual limit. It's all on the donor. The only "may" in there is if the recipient agrees to pay the tax.