Tax on savings for a couple

patchyX2

My wife works part time and doesn't earn enough to pay tax. I work fulltime and am a higher rate tax payer. We have a reasonable sum of cash currently while we wait to put it towards a house. We don't have a joint account, we have separate individual accounts.

If we were to put the money in my account, we would have to pay a fair chunk of tax on it as I would exceed the personal savings allowance. 

Am I allowed to just transfer all the money to her account and therefore avoid paying tax on it? I know you can gift money to a spouse with no tax due, so I'm assuming this is allowed, but I don't want to be caught out.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

PledgeX2 said:

My wife works part time and doesn't earn enough to pay tax. I work fulltime and am a higher rate tax payer. We have a reasonable sum of cash currently while we wait to put it towards a house. We don't have a joint account, we have separate individual accounts.

If we were to put the money in my account, we would have to pay a fair chunk of tax on it as I would exceed the personal savings allowance. 

Am I allowed to just transfer all the money to her account and therefore avoid paying tax on it? I know you can gift money to a spouse with no tax due, so I'm assuming this is allowed, but I don't want to be caught out.

If you want to give your wife the money there is nothing to prevent you doing that.

But it's then your wifes money to spend (or not) as she wishes, it's no longer yours.

Albermarle

 I know you can gift money to a spouse with no tax due, so I'm assuming this is allowed,

You can pretty much give money to whoever you like.