MARRIAGE IN MARCH

Press, Volume C, Issue 29479, 4 April 1961, Page 12

MARRIAGE IN MARCH

Tax Exemption Gained

Whether it is by accident or design March is now becoming the most popular month for marriage. Those bridegrooms who are taxation conscious can claim a full wife exemption for the whole year and thus qualify for a substantial taxation rebate if they marry in March. In Christchurch this year 223 marriage licences were issued in March, compared with 193 for the previous March. In the months of January. February and March 606 licences were issued. Marriage late in the financial year can in some circumstances give a husband a substantial tax rebate. Even if his wife is working up to the time of the marriage he receives a full wife exemption for the whole year. A man earning £2O a week would be entitled to a refund of about £25 for his wife’s exemption. Also, the wife’s income before marriage cannot be added to the husband’s income for taxation purposes The increase in the number of March marriages in Christchurch is not an Isolated instance. In Auckland this year 393 marriage licences were issued in March, compared with 386 in March, 1960, and 365 in 1959. Child Exemption If the young couple can arrange to have a child in March the following year they can also claim a full child exemption of £7B for the whole year and would be entitled to another refund. If the child arrives on March 31 a full year’s exemption is granted. However, if the child arrives the next day, April 1, there is no chance of getting a tax refund, as that is the beginning of a new financial vear For Mr C. Mason,' of Wellington, the father of the quadruplets, the arrival of the babies on March 31 will certainly mean the Inland Revenue Department will owe him some money. He will now be entitled to a further tax exemption of £312; or in taxation parlance, he now becomes M 6 instead of M2.