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Married in Community of Property



Lwandile says:
20 April 2022 at 11:11

My wife and I got married last year on the 26th of March 2018. We got married in community of property, so when it comes to tax what I would like to understand is whether we will both need to do our tax differently this year and also, I would like to find out what would the implications on our tax returns be like?

TaxTim TaxTim says:
30 October 2019 at 12:02

If you marry without an antenuptial contract, you’ll by default be married in community of property. This means that all assets and liabilities belonging to you and your spouse prior to the marriage, and all assets and liabilities you have accumulated during your marriage, will fall into a joint or communal estate. (There are a few exceptions, whereby certain assets may not be included in the joint estate).

The main income tax consequence of this form of marriage is that you're taxed on half of your own investment income (interest, dividends), rental income and capital gains and half of your spouse’s investment income, rental income and capital gains. The income is taxed in this way regardless of who the asset actually belongs to (i.e. in whose name it is registered).

When completing your tax return, you need to ensure you cross the correct box to indicate to SARS that you're married in community of property. The tax return will then allow you to give SARS your spouse’s ID number details. You must declare 100% of your investment income, rental income and capital gains and SARS will split it 50:50 between you and your spouse on assessment.

The other income (i.e. salary, freelance income, etc.) is taxed in the normal way based on who has earned it.

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