Does new civil partnership bill apply tax changes to co-habiting couples?

[ninak]

Can someone clarify this for me. I am living with my partner( he is male, myself female) for the past 10 years. We have a child together, own a house together etc. We function to all intensive purposes as a married couple. I was under the impression that the changes being brought about by the civil partnership would apply to us as well as same sex couples. I am referring to the double standard way that revenue refuse to assess us as married so we can not get married couple tax credit and we can not pass tax free allowance to the other. But welfare will assess our earnings jointly and treat us as married when it comes to things like medical card, etc.
Recently I was told that only the legal entitlements section of the act apply to us, not the tax or welfare entitlements. Is this still down to getting married or not? Is it that the tax and welfare changes are to apply to a civil partnership as they have got married and co-habiting couples, whether same sex or not will still be treated with the double standard from revenue and welfare?

 

[Ciara2011]

As far as i know, the outgoing Government did not have time to pass through all the elements so in order to get certain parts enacted in to law before leaving government, they had to kick to touch alot of the important elements re tax etc., but when the new goverment came to power they would have enough time to bring in the rest. At the moment this would not be on top of their agenda. Your local FG / Labour TD, maybe able to find out priority of finishing off this legislation as it is leaving alot of people still in limbo

 

[BarMcc]

Revenue announced last week that the tax changes for the civil partnership act will be part of the Finance Act (No. 2) 2011 which is due to be published in next couple of months.

 

[mandelbrot]

Revenue announced last week that the tax changes for the civil partnership act will be part of the Finance Act (No. 2) 2011 which is due to be published in next couple of months.

[broken link removed]

WOOHOO!!

 

[ninak]

So I will just wait and see what is in this Finance Act (no 2). I might drop a few emails to a few Fine Gael/ Labour politicians in the mean time.

 

[ninak]

By the way, if anyone else feels like putting some pressure on their elected official here is the email list for all elected TD's from the Oireachtas site:
[broken link removed]

This list is out of date , sorry, just realised

 

[censuspro]

So I will just wait and see what is in this Finance Act (no 2). I might drop a few emails to a few Fine Gael/ Labour politicians in the mean time.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the tax reliefs that are available to married couples will only be extended to civil partners. Non of the reliefs that are available to married couples and civil partners will extend to co-habiting couples.

 

[mandelbrot]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the tax reliefs that are available to married couples will only be extended to civil partners. Non of the reliefs that are available to married couples and civil partners will extend to co-habiting couples.

Are you absolutely sure of that? (How? Link?)

I am gutted - I'm no legal expert but surely it is unconstitutional for the state to treat a cohabiting couple as a de facto married couple for SW purposes, while refusing to afford them the same status for tax purposes..? Or am I just being naive?! I wonder has anyone ever launched a challenge...

 

[mandelbrot]

revenue .ie no bs

I'm not sure whether you're saying yay or nay, but anyway, having gone off and looked at the Civil partnership etc.. Act, the Constitution, the Commission on Taxation Report, and this (http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.finance.gov.ie%2Fdocuments%2Ftsg%2F2004%2Fstg19taxcouples03.rtf&rct=j&q=Hyland%20v%20the%20Minister%20for%20Social%20Welfare%20and%20the%20Attorney%20General%20(1989)&ei=CIGjTYP6Boi5hAfIzJmGBQ&usg=AFQjCNG2il9d_U_S6N4I5rfrCGowDLUaxg&sig2=wQ5fodj4gaBkJwDORCMPlQ&cad=rja), it appears Censuspro is right What an unsatisfying way to spend an evening!

The only glimmer of hope is our European brethren:

The European Convention on Human Rights
Under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the State is under an obligation to respect family life. The European Court of Human Rights would seem to recognise a wider notion of the family than the Irish Constitution.

Article 8 (1) states “Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence”

Article 8 (2) states: “There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.”


Resolution of the European Parliament
A recent resolution of the European Parliament is worth noting. On 16 March 2000, the European Parliament adopted its report and resolution in respect of human rights in the European Union.

The resolution also called “on Member States to guarantee one-parent families, unmarried couples and same-sex couples rights equal to those enjoyed by traditional couples and families, particularly as regards tax law, pecuniary rights and social rights”. The resolution also called “on the Member States if they have not already done so to amend their legislation recognising registered partnerships of persons of the same sex and assigning them the same rights and obligations as exist for registered partnerships between men and women; calls on those States which have not yet granted legal recognition to amend their legislation to grant legal recognition of extramarital cohabitation, irrespective of gender; considers, therefore, the rapid progress should be made with mutual recognition of the different legally recognised non-marital modes of cohabitation and legal marriages between persons of the same sex in the EU”.

I suppose we'll find out soon enough anyway, but I'm not feeling too optimistic, obviously it'll all change the year after I just bite the bullet and get married...!