9(1)For the year 1989-90 and previous years of assessment Chapter II of Part VII of the Act of 1988 shall apply for the purposes of Class 4 contributions as it applies for those of income tax; and an application by a husband or wife for separate assessment under section 283 of that Act, and an election by them under section 287 of that Act (separate taxation of wife’s earnings) shall operate as respects liability for such contributions as it does for income tax, the wife being liable for Class 4 contributions in respect of her own profits or gains.
(2)Such an application or election as is referred to in sub-paragraph (1) above shall not be made separately for the purposes of Class 4 contributions apart from those of income tax.
(3)Where section 279 of the Act of 1988 applies and there is no separate assessment under section 283 of that Act and no election under section 287 of that Act, the wife’s profits and gains are to be computed, for the purposes of Class 4 contributions as if section 279 did not apply, but the contributions shall be assessed on, and recoverable from, the husband.
(4)In this paragraph “year of assessment” has the meaning assigned to it by section 832 of the Act of 1988.