Members told us that letters have been received from Revenue requesting outstanding 2016 Form 12 tax returns in cases where Form 11 tax returns have been filed for the married couple. Revenue advised us that an issue can arise where a married couple, one registered for income tax and one registered for PAYE only, are not registered as “married” with Revenue. Although the married couple may have been filing Form 11 returns for a number of years, Revenue will continue to request the outstanding Form 12 as part of their compliance campaign. The 2017 Form 12 bulk issue from Revenue is due to commence shortly. The advice is to notify Revenue of the marriage now to prevent demands for a Form 12 issuing to you or your clients.

Revenue told us that “where we receive the PPSN, date of marriage and the basis of assessment we can update our records accordingly. The information can be provided via myEnquiries. This will prevent a compliance notice issuing requesting the outstanding Form 12 but also the future issuing of a Form 12 return to the non-assessable spouse.”

Information on the tax treatment of married couples and what you need to tell Revenue is available on the Revenue website.