Married women to be taxed independently from next year

Sunday 14 March 2021

Changes will be made to a 93-year-old law allowing married women to be taxed separately for the first time from next year, the Treasury Minister has confirmed.

Jersey’s current tax system, dating back to 1928, assesses married couples and civil partnerships as one unit.

For opposite sex-couples, the husband is automatically given the title of ‘primary taxpayer,’ and given legal responsibility for tax payment, and for same-sex couples the eldest person usually takes this title.

Up to now, this ‘primary speaker’ was the sole person in the partnership allowed to speak to Revenue Jersey about their tax.

Deputy Susie Pinel will officially be putting forward the plans to change that this autumn. They will see both married couples and those in civil partnerships independently taxed in a phased approach across 2022-2023.

The proposed plan will begin with the new rules being mandatory for anyone single or any new arrivals on the island from January 1 2022.

Pictured: If the Treasury Minister's plans are accepted, then Independent Taxation for couples will be phased in across 2022-2023.

This will also extend to around 700 married couples and civil partnerships who chose separate assessments for their 2020 tax years. 

Then, in 2023, more islanders will be phased into the new Independent Taxation, although details about this plan have not been released by Government yet, and will be published later this year.

It comes after many steps on a long road to reform - early last year, States Members voted nearly unanimously on “long overdue” changes to give both partners equal rights and responsibilities over their tax affairs.

Pictured: The current tax system assesses couples as one unit.

Deputy Pinel commented: “On International Women’s Day 2019, I announced my intention to modernise our ‘archaic’ tax system and ensure that married women, same-sex spouses and civil partners are treated equally.

“I’m proud to confirm that I will be lodging a proposal with the States Assembly this autumn, to introduce this reform from 1 January 2022. 

“Our income tax laws and systems were introduced in 1928, and they reflect the customs and practices of that era; when men were considered the head of the household, fewer women worked and same-sex relationships were illegal.

“In the intervening 93 years, islanders’ lives and family structures have changed. As we know from our consultation in 2017 and 2018 - islanders want a system that aligns with the equality they expect in their community, family, and relationships.”