Can salary be paid into wife's current account?

adm_4

Can my salary be paid into my wife's current account? I ask because she doesn't paid tax and so has an A&L account in her name only. I wouldn't ask the bank to do this, I'd ask my employer and they wouldn't know whose account it was. And the bank wouldn't know who it was for either? Only problem might be taxman??

seven-day-weekend

Don't know the answer to this, BUT your salary could definitely be paid into a joint account and then transferred to your wife's.

Hereward

I don't see a problem with this, as long as your employer is happy to credit a different person's account with your salary. The only "fly in the ointment" is that you will not have access to any of the money and would be completely dependent on your wife for “your” money. Seven-day-weekend’s suggestion of having it paid into a joint account (or one in your own name) and transferring it is probably the best solution: this would enable you to retain a small amount for your own use.

westernpromise

Hereward wrote:

I don't see a problem with this, as long as your employer is happy to credit a different person's account with your salary. The only "fly in the ointment" is that you will not have access to any of the money and would be completely dependent on your wife for “your” money. Seven-day-weekend’s suggestion of having it paid into a joint account (or one in your own name) and transferring it is probably the best solution: this would enable you to retain a small amount for your own use.

Or even a large amount....

rollergirl1507

my mum used to get here wages paid into my halifax account and there was no probs

EagerLearner

Your salary can be paid into any account you like, any tax due on the interest received on that bank account would be the responsibility of that account holder (ie: your wife). This is advice from a colleague who is a book-keeper and knows lots about tax. Hope it helps...

PoorDave

adm wrote:

Can my salary be paid into my wife's current account? I ask because she doesn't paid tax and so has an A&L account in her name only. I wouldn't ask the bank to do this, I'd ask my employer and they wouldn't know whose account it was. And the bank wouldn't know who it was for either? Only problem might be taxman??

Why would you want to do this?

If she "doesn't pay tax" then she should if she's suddenly getting an amount equal to your salary credited to her. The only ways i could see this being useful are to avoid 40% tax, if you have 2 jobs (somehow) that each paid below the 40% threshold, then you pay one salary to her, or if there's only one job but the salary get split some to you, some to her, again avoiding (say) 40% tak threshold.

However, she would be getting earned income for doing nothing (based on the simple situation in your post) so the shiny shoed men (and women) from her majesty's revenue and customs might be knocking on your door soon.

Someone correct me if i'm wrong, obviously!

Stonk

PoorDave wrote:

Why would you want to do this?

If she "doesn't pay tax" then she should if she's suddenly getting an amount equal to your salary credited to her. The only ways i could see this being useful are to avoid 40% tax, if you have 2 jobs (somehow) that each paid below the 40% threshold, then you pay one salary to her, or if there's only one job but the salary get split some to you, some to her, again avoiding (say) 40% tak threshold.

However, she would be getting earned income for doing nothing (based on the simple situation in your post) so the shiny shoed men (and women) from her majesty's revenue and customs might be knocking on your door soon.

Someone correct me if i'm wrong, obviously!

The income would still be the husband's from a tax point of view, even though it was being paid into someone else's account. I don't think the suggestion was to have the wife on the payroll of the husband's employer (few employers would allow that).

The husband's net income is then effectively being transferred to the wife, which, as a transfer of capital between spouses, is free from tax implications.

It isn't really much different from having the money paid normally and then transferring it to the wife's account; it is just a bit quicker.

Sillychuckie

get it paid into your account (as you are currently), and then just transfer it yourself. so you'll get taxed on a few days interest (time taken to transfer).
Big deal...
It's hardly worth involving your employer to change the bank details to someone else.
just set up a standing order a day after pay day, or do it manually like you would pay anyone else you wanted. once its in the wifes account, any interest earned should be tax free (provided she is registered for gross interest).

jonesMUFCforever

If your bank finds out that another person's wages are going into it you could be technically be found guilty of money laundering.This could mean a month's notice to close the account.
Why do you not have your own account to have your wages paid into?

oldwiring

Sillychuckie wrote:

get it paid into your account (as you are currently), and then just transfer it yourself. so you'll get taxed on a few days interest (time taken to transfer).
Big deal...
It's hardly worth involving your employer to change the bank details to someone else.
just set up a standing order a day after pay day, or do it manually like you would pay anyone else you wanted. once its in the wifes account, any interest earned should be tax free (provided she is registered for gross interest).

Surely a bit dangerous; salaries habe been known to be delayed and what if a weekend or BH comes in to it? Charges for going OD??????