The tax advantages of being married

There are 3 areas with tax advantages for married couples:
1. Inheritance Tax, normally applies for assets over £325,000. For married couples IHT only applies to combined assets over £650,000. If you leave your assets to your spouse, there is no IHT to pay and unused IHT allowance is transferred to your spouse.
2. Capital Gains Tax - if you transfer assets to your spouse, it’s a ‘no gain, no loss’ value so there’s no CGT to pay unlike unmarried couples. Assets can be gifted back and forth with no CGT implications.
3. This CGT rule also enables income to be ‘equalised’ between spouses ensuring the lowest tax rates apply. The Marriage Allowance means a ‘non tax payer’ can transfer 10% of their Personal Tax Allowance to a basic tax paying spouse, saving about £240/year (2018/19).