Are pensions for a married couple treated separately for tax purposes?

PaxmanK

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Are pensions for a married couple treated separate for tax purposes

example

Married couple both retired at 60.
One gets public sector pension of €40K pa which i think brings them into the higher tax bracket.
Other gets €20K pa DC pension which keeps them in the lower tax bracket.

Combined they earn €60k from pensions, which ordinarily if that was salary income they would not be in the higher tax bracket.
Is it true that because they are pensions that the €40k pension is taxed at the higher rate?
 
Nothing changes.

By that I mean 60k wages at age 59 is taxed the same as 60k pensions at age 60.

The type of income does not matter: wages vs pensions.


Things may change at age 65/66, as PRSI drops away, and the age tax credits starts.
 
This is a very planning point for married couples.

I have seen cases where the Husband has all the income, so the 20% tax band is the €44,300 for a married person with one income.

If, for example, he has a rental property, he should convey it to her, as she can earn up to €26,300 at 20%.

Or sometimes they stuffed the husband's pension fund when they would be better off contributing to her pension fund so that she will have her own income in retirement. This would only apply if she were getting tax relief at 40% on her contributions, which I presume she would be getting.

Brendan
 
Is it easy to transfer a property in both names into one name if you wanted to increase the wifes income and reduce the husbands income?
 
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