Taxation and marriage - Assessable Spouse.

Mr. Larson

Sorry if it's been answered 1,000 times but I was looking back and couldn't find the exact answer I was looking for.

If I earn 75k per annum and my wife earns 40k, does it matter who is down as the assessable spouse? We are both P.A.Y.E. employed. I'd imagine either way it comes out the same but I really am clueless about all this. I'm going to put my income of 75k down as the assessable spouse as from what I gather this is the most common course of action.

Any advice or endorsement that this is the right way to go?

kennyb3

Works out the same regardles in your case, based on the incomes given.

Ring your local tax office to find out who is the assessable spouse. dont guess.

Stick your PPS # into the contact locator on revenue.ie to get the number you need.

Regards,

Brian

Mr. Larson

Thanks - seems I have to pop in the assessable spouse form into the post for the Revenue Commissioners South East Region. Got married in 2009 but never got around to doing this - hopefully we will get something back in return and it won't take forever - mind you I really should have sorted it yonks ago. Put myself down as the assessable one.

nompere

It makes very little difference while both spouses are alive, but the nature of the joint assessment rules is that there can be a considerable tax saving if the assessable spouse dies first.

The 2010 edition of "Irish Income Tax" says, at para 3.506 on page 458:

"Clearly there are siginficant advantages to be gained if the deceased spouse is the assessable spouse. While tax planning may appear a little inappropriate where the non-assessable spouse is terminally ill, significant tax savings may be available if the couple jointly elect for the ill spouse to be the assessable person."

In practice the best thing is to make the spouse with the shorter life expectancy the assessable spouse. Actuarially, men die younger than women, and husbands are usually older than their wives.

How you discuss this over the dinner table is another matter!

beglee

Jabberwocky wrote: »

Thanks - seems I have to pop in the assessable spouse form into the post for the Revenue Commissioners South East Region. Got married in 2009 but never got around to doing this - hopefully we will get something back in return and it won't take forever - mind you I really should have sorted it yonks ago. Put myself down as the assessable one.

Any update on this? how long did it take once you had submitted assessable spouse form for any change to be seen in your tax credits or any refund at all?

i submitted my form last month, but im not really sure what is supposed to happen now, and its been over 6 weeks since i dropped it in

Mr. Larson

It all got sorted very quickly as I got through to a nice lady in the Southeastern subsidiary of the tax office (in Wexford I think) so she managed to sort everything out for me over the phone and with a few follow up emails. There had been some issue that prompted me to call and she kindly sorted it all out for me very quickly. Can't remember the exact details now though but maybe it might be worth picking up the phone?