Tax dodge of the week: paired up? Then pay less

According to Independent Financial Advice Promotion, couples unnecessarily hand over £224m of tax to the Inland Revenue each year.

Take income. Many types of income can be shared between a couple from pensions and savings accounts to property and shares to double up the £5,435 personal allowance (the amount of income someone under 65 can earn tax-free).

And it's not just non-earning partners who should make use of their allowances, says Anne Gregory-Jones, head of tax at accountants Hays Macintyre, in The Daily Telegraph.

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It also makes sense to shift income-producing assets into the name of the lower earner if one partner is a basic-rate taxpayer and the other is on the higher rate.

Also, don't forget about capital gains tax (CGT), says Mark Atherton in The Times. The annual CGT allowance rises £400 to £9,600 for the 2008/2009 tax year, so a couple, who get one each, could shield gains of up to £19,200 by a "judicious division of their assets".

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