Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 section Schedule 5 paragraph 25

Married couples and civil partners

Schedule 5, paragraph 25 explains how the higher rates of land transaction tax apply when a buyer is married or in a civil partnership, even if only one spouse or civil partner is named as the buyer in the transaction.

• When a buyer is married or in a civil partnership and the couple are living together, the property interests of the spouse or civil partner who is not named as a buyer are still taken into account for higher rates purposes.
• If the transaction would have attracted the higher rate had the spouse or civil partner also been a buyer, then the higher rate applies regardless.
• Married couples and civil partners are treated as living together unless they are formally separated by a court order, a deed of separation, or are in fact permanently separated.
• This rule prevents couples from avoiding higher rates by having only one partner named on the purchase while the other holds existing property.