Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 485FA

Adaptation of provisions relating to taxation of married persons

Section 485FA adapts the joint and separate assessment rules for married couples and civil partners so that the restriction of reliefs operates by reference to each spouse's or civil partner's own taxable income rather than their combined total income.

• Where the restriction of reliefs applies to a jointly assessed couple, income aggregation takes place at the level of taxable income rather than total income, so that each spouse's or civil partner's restriction is calculated individually before the resulting amounts are combined for assessment on the assessable spouse or civil partner.
• References to "total income" in the joint assessment provisions of sections 1017 and 1031C are read as references to "taxable income", ensuring the assessable spouse or civil partner is charged on the combined taxable incomes of both parties.
• Where the benefit of specified tax deductions exceeds the income tax chargeable on one spouse's or civil partner's income, the surplus may be transferred to reduce the tax payable by the other spouse or civil partner, preserving the transferability of reliefs that applies under joint assessment.
• The provisions determining which spouse or civil partner is the assessable person (section 1019 subsections (1), (2) and (4)(a)(ii)) continue to operate by reference to total income and are unaffected by this section.