Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 1031B

Assessment as single persons

Section 1031B provides that civil partners who are treated as living together are each assessed to income tax separately on their own income, unless they elect for joint assessment.

• Where civil partners are treated as living together, each is assessed to income tax on his or her own income as if they were not in a civil partnership.
• This default position of separate assessment applies unless the Income Tax Acts provide otherwise.
• Where both civil partners have elected under section 1031D for joint assessment for a year of assessment, the default single assessment under this section does not apply for that year.
• The effect is that civil partners are treated as single persons for tax purposes unless they actively choose joint assessment.