Equality for same-sex couples has advanced in recent years so that civil partners have the same rights as married couples in many areas, and as from 13 March 2014 when the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 came into force, same-sex couples can now marry. However, in the tax sphere, there remains an area of inequality for some civil partners with foreign connections. The status of civil partnership does not always interact well with the tax rules in the jurisdiction concerned and may mean that civil partners are denied access to the same foreign tax reliefs and exemptions as other married couples.
In this article first published in Private Client Adviser (www.privateclientadviser.co.uk) on 28 April 2014 and reproduced here by kind permission, Fay Copeland, partner in the Private Client team, discusses how this tax inequality arises and how it could be addressed as part of the Government's consultation "Civil Partnership Review (England and Wales)".
"Equality should be universal" – column in Private Client Adviser (28 April 2014)
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