Marriage Allowance

Tinks05

Hi there,

Just looking for some advice. I've just been reading up about the marriage allowance and it fits our circumstances for the last tax year. I'm self employed but during 16-17 was on maternity leave and claimed maternity allowance which I've just discovered isn't taxable. Because of this I am looking into marriage allowance. However my earnings are usually over the tax threshold so this will just be a one off. Am I able to do this for one year only? I'm doing my self assessment at the moment and was going to do the marriage allowance through that. Will I just answer no the the marriage allowance question when doing self assessment next year?

Hope this makes sense!

Thanks

sheramber

Caela wrote: »

Yes I've had the exact same issue. Called HMRC and had an extremely unhelpful lady. Said it's my responsibilty to know if I was entitled and they do not check. Sent my husband a cheque in August and now I have had two tax demands - 2015/16 £209.40 and 2016/17 £222 - all to be paid back by 31st Jan 2018. She wouldn't cancel it for 2017/18 either - said my husband has to do it even though I set it up

It depends who cancels as to what the result is.

https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance/if-your-circumstances-change
You or your partner can cancel Marriage Allowance online. You’ll be asked to prove your identity using information HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) holds about you.

The date the allowance ends depends on who cancels it.

If you stop transferring the allowance to your partner, it will run until the end of the tax year (5 April).

If your partner asks to stop receiving your allowance, HMRC will backdate the change to the start of the tax year you first started transferring it.

sheramber

Tinks05 wrote: »

Hi there,

Just looking for some advice. I've just been reading up about the marriage allowance and it fits our circumstances for the last tax year. I'm self employed but during 16-17 was on maternity leave and claimed maternity allowance which I've just discovered isn't taxable. Because of this I am looking into marriage allowance. However my earnings are usually over the tax threshold so this will just be a one off. Am I able to do this for one year only? I'm doing my self assessment at the moment and was going to do the marriage allowance through that. Will I just answer no the the marriage allowance question when doing self assessment next year?

Hope this makes sense!

Thanks

Does your husband submit a self assessment tax return? If not you have to transfer the marriage separately to allow the record to be linked.

https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance/how-to-apply

Also note once transferred one of you must cancel it.
https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance/if-your-circumstances-change

Caela

GrantWoody75 wrote: »

Has anyone else lost out from doing this?

My wife works part-time and earns £10,800 a year. I earn £37,000 a year.

I've received a repayment of £429 which I'm told is for 2015/16 and 2016/17.

My wife has now received a demand for £435 for 2015/16 and 2016/17.

Did I get this badly wrong or has there been a mistake?

Spent nearly an hour on the phone to the tax office without getting anywhere. My wife now has to phone as well so they can look at her file.

Yes I've had the exact same issue. Called HMRC and had an extremely unhelpful lady. Said it's my responsibilty to know if I was entitled and they do not check. Sent my husband a cheque in August and now I have had two tax demands - 2015/16 £209.40 and 2016/17 £222 - all to be paid back by 31st Jan 2018. She wouldn't cancel it for 2017/18 either - said my husband has to do it even though I set it up

le_loup

It is your responsibility and HMRC have informed you.
You have had the money wrongly - you must pay it back.

PollyArthur

My income from temp employment and pensions total £14863 Tax paid £550.20. Personal Tax Allowance £11000 = total taxable income £3863.34 basic rate tax at 20% = £772.60 less tax already paid £550.20. I owe them 222.40. As you can see I am not a high tax payer. I have been retired since 2005 and worked temporarily from Sept 2016 to March 2017. I received a tax code showing the marriage Allowance and received the appropriate rebate. But they are now saying it was cancelled? We didn't cancel it they did. Reason being my husband earned more than £9,900. Totally confused.

Consumerist

Caela wrote: »

Yes I've had the exact same issue. Called HMRC and had an extremely unhelpful lady. Said it's my responsibilty to know if I was entitled and they do not check. Sent my husband a cheque in August and now I have had two tax demands - 2015/16 £209.40 and 2016/17 £222 - all to be paid back by 31st Jan 2018. She wouldn't cancel it for 2017/18 either - said my husband has to do it even though I set it up

That's correct. Only the donor can initiate the transfer of allowance - for obvious reasons. If the donor cancels the transfer it will be effective from the following tax year (2018/19 in this case) but the recipient can cancel with immediate effect (in principle).

PollyArthur

My husband's income was £10,014 the tax free allowance was £11000

polymaff

Caela wrote: »

I applied to transfer to my husband in July. I didn't realise I was over on my tax last year and thought we would be rejected if I was. My husband received a cheque in August (we had applied for the uniform rebate at the same time). No specification for amounts allocated to which.


Yesterday i received two letters from HMRC. One stating I had not paid enough tax in 2015/2016 and must pay £209.40 due to the marriage allowance. The other letter stated the same for 2016/17 but for £222. Both amounts to be paid by 31st Jan 2018.


I called HMRC and said surely if I had not had the tax to transfer, they should not have sent a chq. their reply was it's not our responsibilty to check. Really ???? You are HMRC - you have all my details of total income and tax. They say it's my mistake and it has to be repaid in 13 weeks.


I don't know what to do???


Taken from Martin's blog below
Although the onus is on you to check you're eligible, HMRC will write to inform you if you're not – although you may have to wait a few weeks

Just ask your husband to give you the money he received - and learn that advice from either Lewis needs to be thought about before being acting upon.

BerniceG

Brilliant guide. Took me less than 10 mins to complete on line. Got confirmation from HMRC immediately and got new tax code following day when I got into the office. Now awaiting my two cheques for my tax rebates. Thanks guys - what great advice!