Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 1020

Special provisions relating to year of marriage

Section 1020 provides for year of marriage relief, allowing a married couple who are taxed as single persons in the year of their marriage to claim a repayment where joint assessment would have produced a lower tax liability.

• In the year of marriage, both spouses are taxed as single individuals and cannot opt for joint assessment under section 1018 until the following year.
• A joint written claim may be made after the year end for a repayment of the excess tax paid as single persons over the amount that would have been payable under joint assessment, scaled by the proportion of the year for which the couple were married (A × B/12).
• A part of a calendar month counts as a full month when calculating the number of months (B) for which the couple were married in the tax year.
• Any repayment due is divided between the spouses in proportion to the tax each paid and payable on their respective total incomes for the year of marriage.