Women are less likely to trust their spouse enough to share their assets in order to take advantage of tax rules, according to Hargreaves Lansdown.
The study showed 79% of men would trust their spouse, compared to 69% of women.
Hargreaves Lansdown said the more assets someone has, the more likely they are to trust their spouse with some of it, with 79% of savers and 84% of investors saying they would be happy to share assets to cut a tax bill.
Additional rate taxpayers (95%) are most likely to trust their spouse enough to share assets, followed by higher rate taxpayers (82%) and basic rate taxpayers (74%).
The investment platform said those aged 35-54 (66%) are least likely to trust their spouse enough to share assets, while those aged 55 and over are most likely (82%).
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Do you trust your spouse enough to give them savings and investments to hold for tax purposes? Almost three quarters of people would, but women, those in middle age and basic rate taxpayers are less convinced that they can trust their partner. If they’re right, sharing assets can come with a real sting in the tail.”
Coles said tax rules are designed to make the spouse one of the most valuable tax planning tools, because couples can share assets between them to cut their tax bill. In some cases, spouses can hold a balance between them that means both stay within their individual allowances and pay no tax.
Each individual has their own tax-free allowances, including income tax personal allowance, personal savings allowance, dividend allowance and capital gains tax allowance and assets can be managed between spouses so that they both take advantage of as much of their allowances as possible.
They can also take advantage of both ISA allowances as well as pensions.
However, Coles said that once the money is given away, it will be in control of the other person, bringing with it added risk.
“They are free to make any decisions they want with it, moving investments or savings, or spending as much as they want. If you have a strong relationship, this may not be a concern, but if your partner has any issues around money, or any problem debts, they could make poor decisions with this money,” she added.
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