In 2007, the Chancellor of the Exchequer had announced a proposal to prevent "income shifting." Income shifting is the practice of splitting income between two people, often spouses or civil partners, to avail of the tax allowance permitted to the lower-earning partner.

We urge all freelancers and small business owners to write to their Mps, persuading them to oppose the measure and to sign the Early Day Motion asking the Government to reconsider its position and/or   to sign PCG's e-petition against the proposals on the 10 Downing Street website.


PCG opposes this proposal

Our contention is that when two people are willing to share the risk of running a business, they should be equally entitled  to share the fruits of the reward.

To justify this measure, all affected businesses will be required to maintain a record of every single contribution made to their business. This will minimize red tape.

Rules will inevitably become more complex: there will be no way of self-assessing a tax liability with certainty, and this may leave taxpayers without reassuring incentives to make efforts to comply with their obligations.We have to see whether or not HMRC picks them for investigation.

The demarcation between tax law and divorce law will become sharper: a divorce may entitle a spouse to well over half the value of a business but in a marriage they may not be entitled to share any of the profits.