Income Tax Act 2007 section 257T

Transfers between spouses or civil partners

Section 257T ensures continuity of Social Investment (SI) tax relief when an investment is transferred between spouses or civil partners, so that no relief is withdrawn on the transfer itself, and the recipient spouse or civil partner steps into the shoes of the original investor for all future purposes.

• When an investor transfers all or part of a social investment to their spouse or civil partner during their lifetimes, no SI relief is withdrawn on that transfer alone.
• For any later disposal or event, the recipient spouse or civil partner is treated as if they had always been the investor — including being credited with the same tax year of relief and the same amount of income tax reduction as the original investor.
• If the SI relief attributable to the transferred investment had already been partly reduced before the original investor obtained it, the same reduction carries across to the recipient, preserving a consistent history of the relief.
• If a subsequent event triggers a withdrawal or reduction of SI relief, the tax assessment is made on the recipient spouse or civil partner — not on the original investor.