Consider these ideas for putting assets in a spouse’s name, who would then pay tax at a lower rate
When Carolyn and I got married 27 years ago she jokingly said: “What’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is mine.” When our son recently got married, I told him that putting assets in his wife’s name can actually save them tax dollars. But it has to be done properly. It’s what is known as income splitting.
at a lower rate. The challenge? If you simply give your spouse assets that generate income, the attribution rules in our tax law will generally cause any income earned on those assets to be taxed inhands. The good news? There are ways to side-step these rules to split income. Consider these ideas:If you give or lend your spouse money to earn income from a business, the income won’t be attributed back to you. Only “income from property” and capital gains will be attributed back to you.
If you’re the higher income earner, consider paying most or all of the household expenses. This will free-up your spouse’s income for investment purposes. The attribution rules won’t apply to income earned by your spouse on his or her own money.It’s possible to transfer income-producing assets to your lower-income spouse. The attribution rules won’t apply if your spouse pays you fair market value for those assets.
Tim Cestnick, FCPA, FCA, CPA, CFP, TEP, is an author, and co-founder and CEO of Our Family Office Inc. He can be reached at
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