I have a contact who owns a property in his own name, which he rents out and shows the income/expenses from the property on his self-assessment tax return. He has been married for a number of years and would like to know if it is possible to split the property income/expenses 50:50 with his wife, even though the title deeds show the property in his sole name. His view is that as he has been married for a number of years, his wife has a claim to the property and should therefore be able to declare some of the income/expenditure on her self-assessment tax return. I would be grateful if you could clarify the position on this.

Arthur Weller replies:
If you look at www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/trustssettlements-and-estates-manual/tsem9800 it explains the 50:50 rule. If this man puts the house in joint names of himself and his wife, the rental income will be taxed 50:50. Since they are husband and wife there will be no capital gains tax on this transfer, and if the wife does not take over responsibility for any of the mortgage, there will be no stamp duty land tax on this transfer