Marriage Allowance

Dazed_and_C0nfused

IanJowett said:

I am self employed and my taxable income is sometimes just under the allowance but sometimes over it. My wife's employed income is a reasonable amount over the allowance. How are the backdated years calculated?

They aren't calculated.  It is all or nothing.

If you apply you lose 10% of your Personal Allowance and your tax is recalculated on that basis.

Your wife would receive a tax deduction off her tax liability worth a fixed amount.  For example in 2019:20 it is £250.

So unless you want a bill you will need to check each tax year individually to see if it will benefit you both as a couple.

You can only go back to the 2016:17 tax year.

polymaff

IanJowett said:

I am self employed and my taxable income is sometimes just under the allowance but sometimes over it. My wife's employed income is a reasonable amount over the allowance. How are the backdated years calculated?

  ... and bear in mind, that the personal allowance has no relevance to your qualifying, or not, for MAT.  It'll only affect the overall benefit the two of you will get out of MAT. The scenario you describe - one a regular basic-rate taxpayer, the other a lesser earner who is an occasional basic-rate taxpayer - sounds ideal for a permanent election for MAT by the lesser earner.  Things only get dodgy if either of you get into income tax higher-rate territory.

If you think that the above contradicts what you may have read on HMRC's website, yes it does.

spk25

I have claimed marriage allowance for last 4 years until 2016 and now my husband’s tax code is been changed. But now situation is been changed since March 2020 I am out of job. Am i still eligible for allowance if not working?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Do you mean from 2016?

Were you transferring it to your husband or was he transferring it to you?

In what way has your husband's code changed?

What was it before and what is it now?

27melvyn

Can anyone tell me if my wife and I can claim Marriage Allowance? I have a decent pension and she was made redundant last year, meaning she was unemployed from the 1st November 2020 and only earned a wage for part of the current tax year (under the £12500)

Dazed_and_C0nfused

No, your "wife and I" cannot claim Marriage Allowance.  No one can "claim" it.

One person can apply and gets a reduced Personal Allowance, the other person gets a tax deduction.

Most couples are eligible, for example husband and wife both earning £40k are eligible.

But not everyone can benefit.

What do you expect your wife's total taxable income to be in the current tax year?  If this is more than £11,250 then you need to give a breakdown between earnings, interest and dividends (if any received).

polymaff

I wonder if any couple has had a double-application refused?

the_helper

Applied for and transferred allowance to my husband a couple of years ago. Now I have just received an unpaid tax demand £59 for 2016 /17. It says I can pay online but online only shows last 2 years. And there are no messages on my account. I cannot see a way to pay. I no longer have a cheque book. Any idea?

[Deleted User]

the_helper said:

Applied for and transferred allowance to my husband a couple of years ago. Now I have just received an unpaid tax demand £59 for 2016 /17. It says I can pay online but online only shows last 2 years. And there are no messages on my account. I cannot see a way to pay. I no longer have a cheque book. Any idea?

Part of me is thinking something is dodgy here! Unusual to receive a demand for 2016/17 now. What exactly have you received? A P800?

the_helper

No, I have received PA302 (simple assessment).