Top ten tips: Money for married couples LOVE is in the air this month. Not only is it Valentine's Day next Tuesday, but there's also a leap year on the cards too, giving single girls the chance to pop the question on the 29th. Paula Fraser, a tax director at Grant Thornton, offers her top tips on maximising financial advantages for couples who are married or in a civil partnership. Shifting the balance If you are married or in a civil partnership and one partner/spouse has a much lower level of earned income, transferring income-producing assets to the lower income earner can produce significant savings. Working together to distribute investment income between each other so as to use up unused income tax personal allowances (£7,475 each in 2011-12) and lower rate income tax bands (the first £35,000 of income above the personal allowance). If you own shares in a company, consider giving a few shares to the spouse with the lower income. When dividends are paid they will use up the lower rate income tax bands. Tax and legal advice should always be taken when considering transferring assets between spouses. Use it or lose it Make the most of capital gains exemption. The annual exemption before tax is charged on disposals for each individual for the year ending April 2012 is £10,600. And if you qualify for the spousal exemption, transfers between spouses are free of capital gains, giving you two annual exemptions. Transfer window With two annual exemptions, a spouse with an asset standing at a capital gain can transfer part ownership of the asset to the other spouse just prior to the sale, so that £21,200 is exempt from CGT rather than the usual £10,600. Share buyback For spouses wanting to use up their annual capital gains tax exemptions, one tax planning example is for, say, the husband to sell his shares one day, give the cash to his wife, and she buys them back the next day. This uses up the husband's annual exemption, while still holding the same shares, thus reducing the taxable gain when the shares are finally sold later on (assuming that the shares are sold at sufficient gain). Two's company Entrepreneurs Relief for capital gains tax is worth exploring, but to qualify for the first £10m of capital gains to be taxed at 10 per cent there are criteria levels to be met. The individual has to have owned 5 per cent of the share capital and voting rights in a trading company, held the shares for a minimum of 12 months and also be an employee/office holder in the company for the 12-month period. This is a massive tax saving, as otherwise they could be taxed at 18 per cent (basic rate taxpayers) or 28 per cent (higher rate). Romantic gift? Plan how best to utilise your inheritance tax (IHT) annual exemption. You can make any number gifts of up to £3,000 each for husband and wife for the 2011-12 tax year, plus, any unused balance from 2010-11. A small gifts exemption of £250 can also be gifted to any beneficiary for 2011-12. Meaningful vows Transfers between spouses during life and on death are exempt from IHT (subject to a limit of £55,000 if the recipient spouse is not UK domiciled). Now imagine that - if a couple can stay married continuously "till death do us part," it really is the ultimate IHT plan. Making allowances For the 2011/2012 tax year, up to £10,680 can be paid into an individual savings account (Isa) by each individual (up to £21,360 for a married couple). Up to £5,340 of each individual's allowance can be held in a cash Isa, with the rest held in a stocks and shares Isa. Alternatively, the full sum can be invested in a stocks and shares Isa. Treading carefully Profits from the family business can be split between spouses to use up the lower tax bands. But watch out on this one as the taxman doesn't like anything that can't be commercially justified, so seeking professional advice on this subject is a must to avoid ending up in hot water. Planning ahead Individuals can pay up to £3,600 gross into a pension whether or not they have earnings. But a married couple with earnings can maximise their cash into pensions by signing up to be members of a pension scheme. Each can contribute up to £50,000 to a pension scheme and the spouse will receive full income tax relief on those contributions. This £50,000 cap includes employer contributions and the deemed increase in value of defined benefit pension schemes.