Claimants with cohabiting partners are recognised within the social welfare system as having additional needs in cases where their cohabiting partner is financially dependent upon them. The payment of an Increase for a Qualified Adult (IQA) in addition to the personal rate of payment reflects these additional household needs.
The IQA is payable in respect of a person who is wholly or mainly maintained by the customer regardless of whether the couple are married or not. Where one member of a cohabiting couple claims a means-tested social assistance payment, their partner's income is taken into account in the means test.
The social welfare and tax systems have evolved over time and in response to a variety of factors, including Constitutional imperatives as interpreted by the Courts, changing social trends and EU Directives. The EEC Equality Directive 79/9 and the subsequent Supreme Court case (Hyland v Minister for Social Welfare, 1989) led to the current treatment of non-married cohabiting couples in the social welfare code. The Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for the total income a married couple received in social welfare benefits to be less than the couple would have received if they were unmarried and cohabiting. This means that for social assistance means tested schemes such as jobseeker’s allowance, married couples, civil partners and cohabiting couples are treated in the same manner.
Income tax arrangements for married couples, civil partners and cohabiting couples are a matter for the Minister for Finance.
