THE GOVERNMENT has published legislation that will allow cohabiting couples the same tax treatment as married couples.
The
legislation, arising from the Civil Partnership Act, will allow
registered civil partners the same treatment in matters of income tax,
stamp duty, capital acquisitions tax, capital gains tax and VAT.
The
measures contained in the Finance (No 3) Bill 2011, published by
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan last Thursday, were among the
commitments in the programme for government.
Mr Noonan
acknowledged that he was giving effect to a commitment made by the last
government that was not possible to carry through because of the early
general election.
“The previous government committed to
introducing the changes to tax legislation. This was not possible during
their term of office due to the early general election but I am now
publishing the Finance (No 3) Bill 2011,” he said.
He said the
Bill was published separately from the Finance (No 2) Bill 2011,
currently before the Dáil, as “it implements changes that go right
through the tax system and will require detailed consideration”.
The
Bill was strongly welcomed by the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network,
which described it as a critically important development for civil
partners.
“It provides important certainty and security for the
many same-sex couples who have registered or are planning to register
their civil partnerships” said Kieran Rose, its chairman.
“The
Bill also provides that a child whose parent is in a civil partnership
will be treated the same, for tax purposes, as a child of a married
couple. This means, for example, that children of civil partners will be
treated the same for inheritance tax as children of a married couple.”
The
equality network’s director of policy change, Eoin Collins, said the
inclusion of children of civil partners was a significant development as
it extended financial protections to children being parented by
same-sex couples.
Mr Rose also welcomed the all-party support for the legislation.