Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 1024

Method of apportioning reliefs and charging tax in cases of separate assessments

Section 1024 sets out how personal reliefs are to be apportioned between a husband and wife who have opted for separate assessment under section 1023, and how unused reliefs and standard rate band entitlements may be transferred between spouses.

• Where separate assessment applies, each personal relief is allocated between the spouses according to rules specific to the type of relief — broadly based on who incurred the expenditure, who is entitled to the relief, or on a 50/50 basis.
• Income tax exemptions under sections 187 and 188 are split between the spouses in proportion to the tax each would have paid if the exemptions did not apply.
• Each spouse receives the single person's standard rate band, but any unused portion of one spouse's standard rate band may be transferred to the other spouse, subject to the married couple's overall limit.
• Where a spouse's allocated reliefs exceed the tax chargeable on that spouse's income, the excess is transferred to reduce the tax chargeable on the other spouse's income.