Former spouse has no liability to tax on rental income

The taxpayer and her former husband bought a property in 2013. In 2015 the husband went abroad on business but before leaving he executed a power of attorney in her favour. This gave her permission to sell the property while he was away. By 2016 it seemed the marriage was over. The husband did not make any financial provision for his wife so she let the property to generate income. She paid the rental income into a separate account to ensure her husband could not access it. She sold the property in July 2020.

It did not occur to the taxpayer that she needed to report the income to HMRC until December 2022 when HMRC contacted her. She provided the relevant income details and asked that half of the income be assessed on her former husband. HMRC did not believe that he had benefited from the income and...