CIOT/IFS debate: Taxing families - 30 years after the introduction of independent taxation have we got it right?

In the summer of 1988 Parliament passed legislation bringing in independent taxation of husbands and wives. 30 years on, our debate will assess how the system is faring, considering questions such as:

• Should the transferable Marriage Allowance be extended – or scrapped?
• Has the High Income Child Benefit Charge undermined the principle of independent taxation?
• Is there a contradiction between individual assessment for tax and joint assessment for tax credits and benefits?
• Does it matter that government uses different definitions of a couple across the tax and benefit system?

The panel will consist of:

Stuart Adam, Senior Research Economist, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Fran Bennett, Senior Research and Teaching Fellow, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, and Women's Budget Group
Don Draper, Co-founder, Tax and the Family
Gillian Wrigley, Technical Officer, Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, and lead author of Tax and Couples report

The event will be chaired by Ray McCann, President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

The debate will conclude by 20:00 and will be followed by a drinks reception. This event is free to attend but must be registered for.

This is the twelfth in a series of lectures and debates being organised by the CIOT and the IFS to promote debate among policy-makers, opinion-formers and the wider tax and economics communities on the future of the UK and international tax systems.

If you have any questions about this event, please contact Clara Roberts at @email.