Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988

CHAPTER IITAXATION OF INCOME OF SPOUSES

General rules

279Aggregation of wife’s income with husband's

(1)Subject to the provisions of this Chapter, a woman’s income chargeable to income tax shall, so far as it is income for—

(a)a year of assessment; or

(b)any part of a year of assessment, being a part beginning with 6th April,

during which she is a married woman living with her husband, be deemed for income tax purposes to be his income and not to be her income.

(2)The question whether there is any income of hers chargeable to income tax for any year of assessment and, if so, what is to be taken to be the amount thereof for income tax purposes shall not be affected by the provisions of subsection (1) above.

(3)Any tax falling to be assessed in respect of any income which, under subsection (1) above, is to be deemed to be the income of a woman’s husband shall, instead of being assessed on her, or on her trustee, guardian, curator, receiver or committee, or on her executors or administrators, be assessable on him or, in the appropriate cases, on his trustee, guardian, curator, receiver or committee, or on his executors or administrators.

(4)Nothing in subsection (3) above shall affect the operation of section 111.

(5)Any deduction from a man’s total income made under section 257(6) and (7) shall be treated as reducing the earned income of his wife.

(6)References in this section to a woman’s income include references to any sum which, apart from the provisions of this section, would fall to be included in computing her total income, and this subsection has effect in relation to any such sum notwithstanding that some enactment (including, except so far as the contrary is expressly provided, an enactment passed after the passing of this Act) requires that that sum should not be treated as income of any person other than her.

(7)For the purposes of sections 380 and 381 of this Act and section 71 of the 1968 Act (set off of capital allowances against general income), subsection (1)(b) above shall have effect as if the words “being a part beginning with 6th April” were omitted.

280Transfer of reliefs

(1)Where during any part of a year of assessment a husband and wife are living together but his income for that year does not or, if there were any, would not include any of hers, then if either of them—

(a)would, if he or she had sufficient income for that year, be entitled to have any amount deducted from or set off against it under a provision to which this subsection applies, and

(b)makes a claim in that behalf,

that amount or, as the case may be, so much of it as cannot be deducted from or set off against his or her own income for that year shall instead be deducted from and set off against the income for that year of the other spouse.

(2)Subsection (1) above applies—

(a)in the case of the husband, to any provision of Chapter I of this Part and sections 289 and 353;

(b)in the case of the wife, to—

(i)any provision of that Chapter except sections 257(1)(b), (2)(b) and (3)(b), 258, 259 and 262;

(ii)section 289 but only in respect of amounts subscribed by her for shares issued in the part of the year of assessment mentioned in subsection (1) above; and

(iii)section 353 so far as applicable to interest paid in the part of the year mentioned in subsection (1) above.

281Tax repayments to wives

(1)Where in any year of assessment tax has been deducted under section 203 from the earned income of a wife and, apart from this section, a repayment of tax for that year would fall to be made to her husband in consequence of an assessment under Schedule E, so much of the repayment as is attributable to the tax so deducted shall be made to her and not to him.

(2)The amount of a repayment attributable to tax deducted as mentioned in subsection (1) above is the excess (if any) of the total net tax so deducted in the year of assessment over the tax chargeable on the wife’s relevant earned income included in her husband’s total income for that year after allowing—

(a)any relief for that year under section 266 in respect of any payment made by her of the kind mentioned in paragraph 5 of Schedule 14; and

(b)any relief for that year to which her husband is entitled under any other provision of the Income Tax Acts to the extent to which it cannot be allowed because his income, exclusive of her earned income, is insufficient;

but that amount shall not exceed the aggregate of the amounts repayable for that year in respect of the total net tax deducted in that year under section 203 from the income of the wife and the income of her husband.

(3)Where in consequence of an assessment under Schedule E any amount is repayable under this section to the wife of the person on whom the assessment is made the inspector shall notify both of them of his determination of that amount and, subject to subsection (4) below, an appeal shall lie against the determination as if it were a decision on a claim.

(4)Any appeal under subsection (3) above shall be to the General Commissioners for the division in which the spouses reside or, if they reside in different divisions, for the division in which one of them resides, as the Board may direct, or, if neither of them resides in Great Britain, to the Special Commissioners; and on any such appeal by one of the spouses the other shall have the same rights as an appellant, including any right to require the statement of a case for the opinion of the court.

(5)The Board may make regulations—

(a)modifying subsection (2) above in relation to such cases as may be specified in the regulations;

(b)modifying section 824 in relation to cases in which a repayment falls to be made under this section.

(6)This section does not apply to any repayment for a year of assessment—

(a)for which the husband is chargeable to income tax at a rate or rates higher than the basic rate; or

(b)for which any earned income of the wife has been assessed otherwise than under Schedule E.

(7)For the purposes of this section earned income of a wife has the same meaning as for the purposes of subsection (6) of section 257 and relevant earned income of a wife means so much of her earned income as exceeds the relief available in respect of it under that subsection.

(8)References in this section to the total net tax deducted in any year under section 203 are references to the total income tax deducted during that year by virtue of regulations made under that section less any income tax repaid by virtue of any such regulations.

282Construction of references to married women living with their husbands

(1)A married woman shall be treated for income tax purposes as living with her husband unless—

(a)they are separated under an order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or by deed of separation, or

(b)they are in fact separated in such circumstances that the separation is likely to be permanent.

(2)Where a married woman is living with her husband and either—

(a)one of them is, and the other is not, resident in the United Kingdom for a year of assessment, or

(b)both of them are resident in the United Kingdom for a year of assessment, but one of them is, and the other is not, absent from the United Kingdom throughout that year,

the same consequences shall follow for income tax purposes as would have followed if, throughout that year of assessment, they had been in fact separated in such circumstances that the separation was likely to be permanent.

(3)Where subsection (2) above applies and the net aggregate amount of income tax falling to be borne by the husband and the wife for the year is greater than it would have been but for that subsection, the Board shall cause such relief to be given (by the reduction of such assessments on the husband or the wife or the repayment of such tax paid, by deduction or otherwise, by the husband or the wife, as the Board may direct) as will reduce that net aggregate amount by the amount of the excess.

Separate assessments

283Option for separate assessment

(1)If, within six months before the 6th July in any year of assessment for which his income would include any of hers, a husband or a wife makes an application for the purpose in such manner and form as the Board may prescribe, income tax for that year shall be assessed, charged and recovered on the income of the husband and on the income of the wife as if they were not married, and all the provisions of the Income Tax Acts with respect to the assessment, charge and recovery of income tax shall, save as otherwise provided by those Acts, apply as if they were not married.

(2)Notwithstanding an application under subsection (1) above the income of the husband and the wife shall be treated as one in estimating total income; and the amount of tax payable by each of them shall be ascertained by first dividing between them, in proportion to the amounts of their respective incomes, the amount that would be payable by them if no reliefs were given under Chapter I or III of this Part and then applying section 284 to give effect to those reliefs.

(3)Subject to subsection (4) below, an application duly made by a husband or wife under subsection (1) above shall have effect, not only as respects the year of assessment for which it is made, but also for any subsequent year of assessment.

(4)A person who has made any such application for any year of assessment may give, for any subsequent year of assessment, a notice to withdraw that application, and where such a notice is given, the application shall not have effect with respect to the year for which the notice is given or any subsequent year.

(5)A notice of withdrawal under subsection (4) above shall be in such form, and be given in such manner, as may be prescribed by the Board, and shall not be valid unless it is given within the period allowed by law for making, for the year for which the notice is given, applications similar to that to which the notice relates.

284Effect of separate assessment on personal reliefs

(1)Where, by virtue of an application under section 283(1), income tax for any year of assessment is to be assessable and chargeable on the incomes of a husband and wife as if they were not married, the total relief given to the husband and the wife by way of personal reliefs shall be the same as if the application had not had effect with respect to the year and, subject to subsections (2) and (3) below, the reduction of tax flowing from the personal reliefs shall be allocated to the husband and the wife—

(a)so far as it flows from relief under section 273 or Chapter III of this Part, to the husband or the wife according as he or she made the payment giving rise to the relief;

(b)so far as it flows from relief in respect of a dependent relative under section 263 or relief in respect of a son or daughter under section 264, to the husband or the wife according as he or she maintains the relative or son or daughter; and

(c)as to the balance, in proportion to the amounts of tax which would have been payable by them respectively if no personal reliefs had been allowable.

(2)Subject to subsection (3) below, the amount of reduction of tax allocated to the wife by virtue of subsection (1) above shall not be less than the reduction resulting from section 279(5) in the tax chargeable in respect of her earned income, and the amount of reduction of tax allocated to the husband shall be correspondingly reduced.

(3)Where the amount of reduction of tax allocated to the husband under subsection (1) above exceeds the tax chargeable on the income of the husband for the year of assessment, the balance shall be applied to reduce the tax chargeable on the income of the wife for that year; and where the amount of reduction of tax allocated to the wife under that subsection exceeds the tax chargeable on her income for the year of assessment, the balance shall be applied to reduce the tax chargeable on the income of the husband for that year.

(4)Returns of the total incomes of the husband and the wife may be made for the purposes of this section either by the husband or by the wife, but, if the Board are not satisfied with any such return, they may obtain a return from the wife or the husband, as the case may be.

(5)In this section “personal reliefs” means the reliefs provided for by Chapters I and III of this Part.

285Collection from wife of tax assessed on husband but attributable to her income

(1)Where—

(a)an assessment to income tax (“the original assessment”) is made on a man, or on a man’s trustee, guardian, curator, receiver or committee, or on a man’s executors or administrators; and

(b)the Board are of opinion that, if an application for separate assessment under section 283(1) had been in force with respect to the year for which the assessment is made, an assessment (“the potential assessment”) in respect of, or of part of, the same income would have fallen to be made on, or on the trustee, guardian, curator, receiver or committee of, or on the executors or administrators of, a woman who is that man’s wife, or was his wife in that year of assessment; and

(c)the whole or part of the amount payable under the original assessment has remained unpaid at the expiration of 28 days from the time when it became due;

the Board may serve on her, or, if she is dead, on her executors or administrators, or, if the potential assessment could in the event referred to in paragraph (b) above have been made on her trustee, guardian, curator, receiver or committee, on her or on her trustee, guardian, curator, receiver or committee, a notice—

(i)giving particulars of the original assessment, and of the amount remaining unpaid thereunder, and

(ii)giving particulars, to the best of their judgment, of the potential assessment,

and requiring the person on whom the notice is served to pay the amount which would have been payable under the potential assessment if it conformed with those particulars, or the amount remaining unpaid under the original assessment, whichever is the less.

(2)The same consequences as respects—

(a)the imposition of a liability to pay, and the recovery of, the tax, with or without interest; and

(b)priority for the tax in bankruptcy, or in the administration of the estate of a deceased person; and

(c)appeals to the General or Special Commissioners, and the stating of cases for the opinion of the High Court; and

(d)the ultimate incidence of the liability imposed,

shall follow on the service of a notice under subsection (1) above on a woman, or on her trustee, guardian, curator, receiver or committee, or on her executors or administrators, as would have followed on the making on her, or on her trustee, guardian, curator, receiver or committee, or on her executors or administrators, as the case may be, of the potential assessment, being an assessment which—

(i)was made on the day of the service of the notice, and

(ii)charged the same amount of income tax as is required to be paid by the notice, and

(iii)fell to be made, and was made, by the authority who made the original assessment, and

(iv)was made by that authority to the best of their judgment,

and the provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to the matters specified in paragraphs (a) to (d) above shall, with the necessary adaptations, have effect accordingly.

(3)Where an appeal against the original assessment has been heard in whole or in part by the Special Commissioners, any appeal from the notice under subsection (1) above shall be an appeal to the Special Commissioners, and where an appeal against the original assessment has been heard in whole or in part by the General Commissioners for any division, any appeal from the notice shall be an appeal to the General Commissioners for that division.

(4)Where a notice is given under subsection (1) above—

(a)income tax up to the amount required to be paid by the notice shall cease to be recoverable under the original assessment, and

(b)where the tax charged by the original assessment carried interest under section 86 of the Management Act, such adjustment shall be made of the amount payable under that section in relation to that assessment, and such repayment shall be made of any amounts previously paid under that section in relation thereto, as are necessary to secure that the total sum, if any, paid or payable under that section in relation to that assessment is the same as it would have been if the amount which ceases to be recoverable had never been charged.

(5)Where the amount payable under a notice given under subsection (1) above is reduced as the result of an appeal, or of the stating of a case for the opinion of the High Court—

(a)the Board shall, if in the light of that result they are satisfied that the original assessment was excessive, cause such relief to be given by way of repayment or otherwise as appears to them to be just, but

(b)subject to any relief so given, a sum equal to the reduction in the amount payable under the notice shall again become recoverable under the original assessment.

(6)The Board and the inspector shall have the like powers of obtaining information with a view to the giving of, and otherwise in connection with, a notice under subsection (1) above as they would have had with a view to the making of, and otherwise in connection with, the potential assessment if the necessary conditions had been fulfilled for the making of such an assessment.

286Right of husband to disclaim liability for tax on deceased wife’s income

(1)Where a woman dies who at any time before her death was a married woman living with her husband, he or, if he is dead, his executors or administrators, may, not later than two months from the date of the grant of probate or letters of administration in respect of her estate or, with the consent of her executors or administrators, at any later date, serve on her executors or administrators and on the inspector a notice declaring that, to the extent permitted by this section, he disclaims or they disclaim responsibility for unpaid income tax in respect of all income of hers for any year of assessment or part of a year of assessment during which he was her husband and she was living with him.

(2)A notice under subsection (1) above shall not be deemed to be validly served on the inspector unless it specifies the names and addresses of the woman’s executors or administrators.

(3)Where a notice under subsection (1) above has been duly served on a woman’s executors or administrators and on the inspector—

(a)it shall be the duty of the Board to exercise such powers as they may then or thereafter be entitled to exercise under section 285 in connection with any assessment made on or before the date when the service of the notice is completed, being an assessment in respect of any of the income to which the notice relates; and

(b)the assessments (if any) which may be made after that date shall in all respects, and in particular as respects the persons assessable and the tax payable, be the assessments which would have fallen to be made if—

(i)an application for separate assessment under section 283(1) had been in force in respect of the year of assessment in question; and

(ii)all assessments previously made had been made accordingly.

(4)In the application of this section to Scotland, the reference to the date of the grant of probate or letters of administration shall be construed as a reference to the date of confirmation.

Separate taxation

287Separate taxation of wife’s earnings

(1)Where a man and his wife living with him jointly so elect or have elected for any year of assessment, the wife’s earnings and their other income shall be chargeable to income tax as provided in the following provisions of this section.

(2)References in this section to the wife’s earnings are references to any earned income of hers other than—

(a)income arising in respect of any pension, superannuation or other allowance, deferred pay or compensation for loss of office given in respect of the husband’s past services in any office or employment; or

(b)any payment of benefit under the Social Security Acts except a Category A retirement pension (exclusive of any increase under section 10 of the [1975 c. 60.] Social Security Pensions Act 1975 or Article 12 of the [S.I. 1975/1503. (N.I. 15).] Social Security Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1975), unemployment benefit or invalid care allowance.

In this subsection “the Social Security Acts” means the Social Security Acts 1975 and the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Acts 1975.

(3)In charging the income of the husband and wife in accordance with section 279—

(a)the wife’s earnings shall be charged to income tax as if she were a single woman with no other income; and

(b)the husband’s other income shall be charged to income tax as if the wife’s earnings were nil.

(4)Subject to subsections (5) and (6) below, the reliefs to be given under Chapter I of this Part shall be determined as if the husband and the wife were not married and—

(a)the wife’s earnings were her only income; and

(b)the husband’s income included all income of the wife, other than her earnings;

and accordingly the reliefs to be given under that Chapter in respect of the income chargeable under either paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of subsection (3) above shall not reduce the tax or the income chargeable under the other of those paragraphs.

(5)No relief shall be given to either the husband or the wife under section 257(2) or (3) or 259.

(6)References in Chapter I of this Part to the claimant shall be construed as including the wife.

(7)Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Income Tax Acts, where any amount is under any provision of those Acts to be deducted from or set off against income in respect of any payments, loss or capital allowance, then—

(a)if under that provision it is (or is in the first instance) to reduce the wife’s earned income, or is to be deducted or set off in respect of payments made by her or, in the case of relief under Chapter III of this Part, in respect of a payment made by her as a subscription for shares, it shall be treated as reducing her earnings and as not reducing any other income; and

(b)in any other case, it shall be treated as not reducing the wife’s earnings.

(8)Subsection (7) above shall not affect the giving of any relief under section 388 for a year of assessment for which no election under this section was in force.

(9)Income tax charged on the wife’s earnings under subsection (3)(a) above shall, whether or not an application under section 283 is in force, be assessed and recovered as if she were a single woman, and any repayment of tax assessed in pursuance of this subsection shall be made to her.

(10)Where subsection (4) of section 284 applies for the purposes of subsections (1) to (3) of that section, it shall apply also for the purposes of this section; but, subject to that, nothing in this section shall be taken to affect the provisions of the Management Act as to returns.

288Elections under section 287

(1)An election under section 287 (“an election”) must be made in such form and manner as the Board may prescribe and must be made not earlier than six months before the beginning of the year of assessment for which it is made nor later than 12 months after the end of that year or such later time as the Board may in any particular case allow.

(2)An election for any year of assessment shall, unless revoked, have effect for any subsequent year of assessment.

(3)An election in force for any year may be revoked by notice in such form and manner as the Board may prescribe and any such notice must be given jointly by the husband and the wife not later than 12 months after the end of that year or such later time as the Board may in any particular case allow.

(4)An election or revocation of an election under this section that could have been made jointly with a person who has died may, within the time permitted by this section, be made jointly with his personal representatives.