Background to the taxation of spouses and civil partners

‘Independent taxation’ means that husbands and wives, and civil partners, are treated as independent from one another in respect of:

1. •

   income tax bands

2. •

   personal allowances

3. •

   making and filing tax returns

4. •

   payment of income tax, and

5. •

   tax reliefs

The tax treatment of members of civil partnerships is aligned with that of married couples in all respects and in this note, the term ‘spouse’ is used to refer to a husband, wife or civil partner.

This guidance considers a number of potential tax savings ideas and potential pitfalls in relation to spouses of business owners.

Remuneration paid to spouse

It makes sense to pay sufficient remuneration to family members to utilise their personal allowances and basic rate tax bands. Further details of optimising the tax position on the payment of salaries can be found in the Salary v dividend guidance note. In addition the company could be eligible for the employment allowance which is available to most small employers, including