Until now, under the UK tax system, spousal tax breaks for unmarried couples were not available. According to a recent landmark decision by the Supreme Court, these benefits will now be available to unmarried couples too.
The Supreme Court ruled on the basis that it’s a breach of human rights to discriminate based on sexual orientation, or living together without being married.
In New Times
The case filed in courts involved a heterosexual couple who had decided not to marry, considering it an infringement of their basic human rights to be denied the rights enjoyed by same-sex couples in civil partnerships and married couples.
The public is concerned about how the government would respond to this ruling, though it won’t have any direct bearing on the UK tax system.
Spousal Tax Breaks for Unmarried Couples
A simple option would be to allow heterosexual couples also the right to enter into a civil partnership, and thereby enjoy the same tax benefits available to the other couples. These benefits include the transfers of chargeable assets between partners being free of capital gains and inheritance taxes; and the ability to transfer spare personal allowances from one partner to the other under certain circumstances.
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