Finance Bill Debates

The Committee of the Whole House continued examining the Finance Bill with Clause 86 (Income Of Spouses: Jointly Held Property). The Paymaster-General (Dawn Primarolo) explained that 'this clause prevents tax avoidance by married couples who own shares in a close company together. Existing anti-avoidance provisions prevent people from saving tax by diverting their income to someone who pays tax at a lower rate or not at all. These provisions specifically prevent people from saving tax by arranging for income to be received by someone else as dividends on shares in a close company. At the moment married couples who own shares in a close company can side-step the anti-avoidance provisions by exploiting