My wife and I jointly own a property we rent out and we equally split the income. However, my wife does not work and so uses a small amount of her tax allowance via this rental income. I receive a personal pension and have the occasional extra job which adds about £2,000 to my pension, plus half the rental income. I end up paying about £350 tax extra per year due to this extra rental income. Can we arrange for my wife to receive all the rental income (£6,300) into her private bank account, asshe does not use her tax allowance at all so that I don't have to pay extra tax on the income? How do we arrange this?

Arthur Weller replies:
I presume that the property is currently in joint names. You could transfer your half of the beneficial ownership of the property to your wife (perhaps through a declaration of trust), so that she will receive all the rental income. If the property will still be in joint names, you will have to submit a Form 17 to HMRC within 60 days. If you put the property solely in her name, you do not need the Form 17.