As of 2010, living together without having arranged anything has been very unfavorable from a tax perspective. It can cost thousands of euros per year. Anyone who searches the Internet for ,tax partnership, will come across various sites of tax experts who express their concerns about this theme.
Tax partners upon death
At the same time as the revision of the Succession Act, the tax concept of ‘partner’ also changed in 2010. From that moment on, people who live together without being married and do not have a cohabitation contract are no longer regarded as tax partners. In the event of death, the remaining housemate is not recognized as a partner and must pay more tax on the inheritance.
Younger couples will now indicate that they are not concerned about this for the time being, but the rules for the tax partnership also apply to income tax.
Tax partners in income tax
Anyone who surfs to the Ministry of Finance’s website will see under the heading ‘concept of partner in taxation’ that from now on people will only be considered partners if they are married, registered partners or have a cohabitation contract drawn up by a notary.
If unmarried couples live together without a registered partnership, they can no longer divide large deductible items such as mortgage interest. After all, the tax benefit was always greater if the person who earned the most gave up the mortgage interest.
The general tax credit can also have a negative impact. If one of the partners earns little or nothing, the tax credit could previously be claimed from the lowest-earning partner. Co-suppliers who keep cages without a contract will no longer be able to do so from 2010 and will therefore simply have less left over.
Differences between marriage and registered partnership
Since 1998, you have been able to legally arrange your relationship with a life partner without having to get married. Until 1998, it was only possible to conclude a (notarial) cohabitation contract. Nowadays it is also possible to register with the municipality as registered partners. This is done by making a statement before the registrar.
Registered partnership and marriage have many similarities. The consequences are almost the same. For example, the maintenance obligation and the resulting obligation to pay alimony automatically apply to a registered partnership, just as it does to marriage. In a registered partnership, all assets and debts are also jointly held. Just as with marriage under prenuptial conditions, this can be deviated from in a registered partnership by having partnership conditions drawn up. This happens at the notary.
However, different rules apply in a marriage with regard to any children. A registered partnership does not automatically have a family law relationship with the children, while this is the case in a marriage. You will have to take separate steps for this.
Registered partnership only applies in the Netherlands
Please note: a registered partnership concluded in the Netherlands is virtually not recognized abroad. This means that you are still considered unmarried for the foreign authorities. If you want to prevent this, you will still have to tie the knot.