The issue that what kind of relationship satisfies the definition of a 'spouse' has been coming up increasingly regularly.
The Tax Act sets out one of the most used definitions in this regard and I thought it useful this week to extract that definition in its entirety, given that it has been amended relatively recently.
A "spouse" of an individual includes:
(a) another individual (whether of the same sex or a different sex) with whom the individual is in a relationship that is registered under a State law or Territory law prescribed for the purposes of section 22B of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 as a kind of relationship prescribed for the purposes of that section; and
(b) another individual who, although not legally married to the individual, lives with the individual on a genuine domestic basis in a relationship as a couple.
Until next week.
