Finance Act, 1920

Right of husband and wife to claim relief separately.

25.(1) Where, on an application made for the purpose under the provisions of the Income Tax Acts, income tax for any year is assessable and chargeable on the incomes of the husband and wife respectively as if they were not married:—

(a) All the provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to claims for an allowance in respect of earned income and deductions from assessable income and for relief under section thirty-two of the Income Tax Act, 1918, and the proof to be given with respect thereto, shall apply as if they were not married; and

(b) The income of the husband and the wife shall be aggregated in estimating the amount to be repaid or allowed in respect of the allowances or deductions aforesaid, and for the purpose of the reduction of the rate of tax on the first two hundred and twenty-five pounds of the taxable income, and the total amount of any allowances or deductions given or made in respect of the incomes of husband and wife shall not exceed such an amount as would have been given on account of those allowances and deductions if such an application as aforesaid had not been made, and no reduction of the rate of tax shall be allowed in respect of more than two hundred and twenty-five pounds of the taxable income in all; and

(c) The benefit of any such allowance or deduction and the reduction of the rate of tax on the first two hundred and twenty-five pounds of the taxable income may be given either by way of reduction of the amount of the tax to be paid, or by repayment of any excess of tax which has been paid, or by both of these means, as the case requires, and shall be given to the husband and the wife as regards the allowance in respect of earned income in proportion to the amounts of their respective earned incomes, and as regards deductions from assessable income and the reduction of the rate of tax, in proportion to the amounts of their respective assessable incomes:

Provided that in the case of relief given under section thirty-two of the Income Tax Act, 1918, the benefit of the relief shall be given to the husband or wife, as the case may be, by whom the payment is made, and in the case of a deduction claimed in respect of a child under subsection (2) of the foregoing section of this Act relating tothe deduction in respect of children, or in respect of any person under the foregoing section of this Act relating to the deduction in respect of dependent relatives, shall be given to that one of the married persons by whom the child or relative is maintained; and

(d) For the purpose of any of the above-mentioned allowances or deductions or reliefs a return may be made by the husband or the wife of the total income of the husband and wife, but if the Commissioners of Inland revenue are not satisfied with the return they may obtain a return from the wife or husband, as the case may be.

(2) The Commissioners of Inland Revenue may require returns for the purposes of this section to be made at any time, and the provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to penalties for neglect or refusal to deliver or for delay in delivering true and correct statemetns of profits or gains shall, with the necessary modifications, apply in the case of the neglect or refusal to make or wilful delay in making any such return.