UK GAY COUPLES TO ENJOY SAME PERKS: From the Guardian

Lesbian and gay couples took another step towards full equality yesterday with provision in the budget to grant same-sex "civil partnerships" the same tax advantages enjoyed by married couples. ...

In the budget yesterday the Inland Revenue announced a series of changes to the UK tax rules in order to ensure that gay and lesbian couples are treated on a par with married couples. ...

But Michael Caden, tax partner at BDO Stoy Hayward, warned that there are also some tax disadvantages that stem from registering as a civil partnership.

Like married couples, civil partnerships can only have one exempt residence for the purposes of capital gains tax. In addition, the tax avoidance rules -- many of which are concerned with offshore funds -- that govern married couples will also apply to same-sex relationships.

In addition there are few tax reliefs left for married couples. The married couple's allowance is only available to couples in which one of the spouses was born before April 6 1935.

The rules will be changed so that the married couples allowance can be claimed by same-sex couples provided one partner is more than 70 years old. It remains to be seen how many septuagenarian homosexuals will take advantage of the new tax break.

Under the current rules the allowance is calculated using the husband's earnings. That will be changed so that civil partnerships and new marriages will have the allowance calculated with respect to the income of the couple's highest earner.

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posted by Eve at 7:25 PM | link

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