Jointly assessed - but who is liable?

whatnext

Hi all,

More of a moral question than anything else.

Having a little debate with the other half regarding our tax situation and we have come to a slight difference of opinion. To be fair the money is coming from the same pool at the end of the day so the debate is somewhat irrelevant, but we are still "discussing" it! and do manage our own finances independently.

I am PAYE - paying top rate of tax.

My OH is self employed well within the 20% bracket. Its part time also.

We were jointly assessed last year which resulted in a lesser liability than previous years (recently married) just a couple of hundred €.

The OH is arguing that her liability is now that couple of hundred €, where as the way I see it I have paid her tax and "ethically" she owes me a couple of grand because I ended up paying her liability by entering the 42% bracket earlier than I ought to have (now that we are married).

How does anyone else handle this - who is entitled to the benefit of the reduced tax liability?

Hope that make sense.

thesimpsons

jointly assessed = joint liability.

would imagine its up to you as a couple to decide if its a 50/50 liability or whatever works best for you as a couple.

Mr. Incognito

Your oh's salary is added to your band up to caps. Single band is 32k odd. Married one income is 41k odd so you get 9k benefit just by marrying and then you add her income up to 62k odd.

I think if you do the math it's neither person's contribution. Just the extra marital band so you are both wrong.

If there is friction over it elecect separate assessment. Married people can do this.

namenotavailablE

See this link for how the Revenue commissioners distribute refunds: http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it2.html#section5

Repayments

Repayments arising from an end of year review will, in general, be apportioned and repaid on the basis of the tax paid by each spouse or civil partner.

whatnext

namenotavailabl wrote: »

See this link for how the Revenue commissioners distribute refunds: http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it2.html#section5

Thanks for the replies.

Firstly there is no friction between us on the issue, it just happens that when we do the return it works out that I have most of the tax bill paid through my PAYE.
From the quote does that mean that refunds would be made pro rata on tax paid if we made separate returns?

2ndcoming

If your OH is self-employed technically they are the chargeable person so ultimately the liable party, even if they earn €10k and you earn 100 through PAYE, as self-assessment takes precedence over PAYE.