In the famous Stanley Holloway song they are worried about getting to the Church on time.
I’m gettin’ married in the morning
Ding, dong, the bells are gonna chime
Pull out the stopper, we’ll have a whopper
But get me to the church on time.
I wonder whether the happy couple is considering how saying “I do” will impact their taxes.
Let’s have a quick look at how weddings and marriage can impact your taxes.
Firstly, the cost of the wedding; some people may be in a position where their parents can assist with the costs of the day. Revenue will consider the money the parents spend as an expense of the parent and not a gift to the couple. So the parents assisting with the costs on the day will not create a CAT issue. This only applies to the costs on the day and not other costs related to the wedding.
A wedding will also impact your CAT thresholds. Your new spouse moved from Group C with a lifetime limit of 20k to having no limit on transfers between the happy couple.
Is one of the couples bringing a child into the marriage? As this child will be a stepchild to their parents’ new spouse, they will move from Group C to Group A, which has a €400k lifetime threshold.
The couple will now be in a position to be jointly assessed for income tax. Depending on the levels of income between them, this could yield a tax saving for them.
