1031M. Civil partners.

(1) (a) An individual and his or her civil partner who are living together, may, for a year of assessment, by notice in writing given to the inspector on or before 1 April in the year following that year of assessment, jointly nominate which of them is to be the nominated civil partner for the purposes of this Chapter.

(b) If the notice under paragraph (a) is not given on or before the date mentioned in that paragraph, the Revenue Commissioners shall deem one of the civil partners to be the nominated civil partner.

(2) Subject to this section, the amount of capital gains tax on chargeable gains accruing to civil partners in a year of assessment or part of a year of assessment during which they are living together shall be assessed and charged on the civil partner who is the nominated civil partner and not otherwise; but this subsection shall not affect the amount of capital gains tax chargeable on the nominated civil partner apart from this subsection or result in the additional amount of capital gains tax charged on the nominated civil partner by virtue of this subsection being different from the amount which would otherwise have remained chargeable on the other civil partner.

(3) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), subsection (2) shall not apply in relation to a civil partner in any year of assessment where, on or before 1 April in the year following that year of assessment, an application is made by either civil partner that subsection (2) shall not apply, and such an application duly made shall have effect not only as respects the year of assessment for which it is made but also for any subsequent year of assessment.

(b) Where the applicant gives, for any subsequent year of assessment, a notice withdrawing an application under paragraph (a), that application shall not have effect with respect to the year for which the notice is given or any subsequent year; but such notice of withdrawal shall not be valid unless it is given before 1 April in the year following the year of assessment for which the notice is given.

(4) In the case of a civil partner who during a year of assessment or part of a year of assessment is a civil partner living with his or her civil partner, any allowable loss which under section 31 would be deductible from the chargeable gains accruing in that year of assessment to one civil partner but for an insufficiency of chargeable gains shall for the purposes of that section be deductible from chargeable gains accruing in that year of assessment to the other civil partner; but this subsection shall not apply in relation to losses accruing in a year of assessment to either civil partner where an application that this subsection shall not apply is made by either of them before 1 April in the year following that year of assessment.

(5) Where, in any year of assessment in which or in part of which a civil partner is living with his or her civil partner, either civil partner disposes of an asset to his or her civil partner, both civil partners shall be treated as if the asset was acquired from the civil partner making the disposal for a consideration of such amount as would secure that on the disposal neither a gain nor a loss would accrue to the civil partner making the disposal; but this subsection shall not apply if until the disposal the asset formed part of trading stock of a trade carried on by the civil partner making the disposal, or if the asset is acquired as trading stock for the purposes of a trade carried on by the civil partner acquiring the asset.

(6) Subsection (5) shall apply notwithstanding section 596 or any other provision of the Capital Gains Tax Acts fixing the amount of the consideration deemed to be given on a disposal or acquisition.

(7) Subsection (5) shall not apply where the civil partner who acquired the asset could not be taxed in the State for the year of assessment in which the acquisition took place, in respect of a gain on a subsequent disposal in that year by that civil partner of the asset, if that civil partner had made such a disposal and a gain accrued on the disposal.

(8) Where subsection (5) is applied in relation to a disposal of an asset by a civil partner to his or her civil partner, then, in relation to a subsequent disposal of the asset (not within that subsection), the civil partner making the disposal shall be treated for the purposes of the Capital Gains Tax Acts as if the acquisition or provision of the asset by his or her civil partner had been his or her own acquisition or provision of the asset.

(9) An application or notice of withdrawal under this section shall be in such form and made in such manner as may be prescribed by the Revenue Commissioners.