Commentary on Sections Overview Overview Section 39: Transfer of part of blind person’s allowance to a spouse or civil partner
154.This section allows the transfer of any excess allowance due to a blind person to his or her spouse or civil partner if the blind person’s income is insufficient to absorb the allowance fully. It is based on sections 256(1), 265 and 278 of ICTA.
155.It is implicit in section 265 of ICTA that a spouse or civil partner receiving all or part of an allowance under this provision must be an individual entitled to claim allowances in their own right. Subsection (1) makes this explicit by incorporating the residence requirement for the receiving spouse or civil partner.
156.Subsection (2) specifies that it is only the excess allowance that can be transferred, that the transferor must make an election (see section 40), and makes it clearer that in order to be entitled to the allowance the transferee must claim it.
157.Subsection (3) provides rules for determining the amount by which the allowance exceeds income for the purposes of this section. It takes the amount of net income as the starting point. The appropriate personal allowance is then deducted.
158.Section 265(3)(c) of ICTA has not been rewritten as it is obsolete.