ANNEX 1:: MINOR CHANGES IN THE LAW MADE BY THE BILL This change has no implications for the amount of tax due, who pays it or when. It affects (in principle and in practice) only administrative matters. Change 159: Inclusion of civil partners in section 37A of TMA: Schedule 1 (section 37A of TMA)
This change extends to civil partners the treatment given to spouses in certain cases where personal reliefs have been transferred and the transferor’s income tax liability is subsequently increased. It corrects an omission in the changes made by the Tax and Civil Partnership Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/3229).
Under section 257BB of ICTA (as amended by those Regulations) the unused part of a married couple’s tax reduction may be transferred to the claimant’s spouse or civil partner. The same applies to unused blind person’s allowance under section 265 of ICTA. Where there has been such a transfer and the transferor’s income tax liability is subsequently increased due to an assessment to make good a loss of tax wholly or partly attributable to fraudulent or negligent conduct, section 37A of TMA provides that a transfer to a spouse is unaffected. Section 37A was not amended by the Regulations to apply in cases where the transfer of relief was to a civil partner.
In making consequential amendments to section 37A to update the references to the personal relief provisions, the opportunity has been taken to provide that civil partners are treated in the same way as spouses.