Marriage Allowance

polymaff

gterr wrote: »

...On p5 of the SA100 there's a section on MA which explains MA and the conditions and has two statements: "Fill in this section if you want to make the transfer" and "Fill in this section if you want to receive the transfer". This suggests that filling in the required info on both tax returns would constitute an application for MA.
Is this so, or is it still necessary to apply for MA directly to HMRC as a separate action before submitting our tax returns?

SA100 2017 says no such thing. Where are you getting the emboldened text from?

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/self-assessment-tax-return-sa100

gterr

polymaff wrote: »

SA100 2017 says no such thing. Where are you getting the emboldened text from?

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/self-assessment-tax-return-sa100

I am using TaxCalc and assumed that my view of the SA100 was a facsimile of what appears on the HMRC version. Clearly not, so apologies for that.


Here's an image of what I see:
http://imgur.com/7Xx51zd


My question remains, but perhaps it's one for TaxCalc??

polymaff

gterr wrote: »

I am using TaxCalc and assumed ...

If you name a specific document and, in particular, quote-mark some statement, do make sure you are quoting the document specified.

Why use TaxCalc anyway? If you use HMRC's online self-assessment site then at least should things go wrong you have a direct dispute with HMRC - not a three-way argy-bargy.

Be wary of both TaxCalc's and HMRC's notes, btw. They both are wrong. For instance the Finance Act states that the requirement with regard to the taxable income of the initiator of an MAT is:

"assuming the individual's personal allowance was reduced as set out in section 55B(6), the individual would not for that year be liable to tax at a rate other than the basic rate, the dividend ordinary rate or the starting rate for savings"

So nothing to do with £11,000 at all.

As for your question, HMRC claim that they do implement MAT from data supplied in the SA100.

gterr

polymaff wrote: »

As for your question, HMRC claim that they do implement MAT from data supplied in the SA100.

Thank you. That's all I wanted to know.
Apologies that you clearly found my post very irritating.

gifteddante

Hi.

We applied a couple of weeks ago and claimed for the previous years.

The other day I got my letter informing me of my tax code change and another letter with a cheque for FY15/16 (£210.42). When applying it said we would get a cheque for FY16/17 for a.slightly higher amount but this has not come yet.

Has anyone else been in this situation? Has anyone had both cheques at the same time?

Cheers

GD

Ostara84

I hope someone here can help...

I had twins last year, went on maternity leave in Feb 2016 and can't afford to return to work because of the cost of childcare.

So I called hmrc a couple of weeks ago to set up marriage allowance, which seemed simple enough at the time. They asked if I wanted to backdate it for last year, and I said I did.

We've received 4 letters since.

My husband received a letter changing his tax code from 1125L to 1223M (including underpayment restrictions). He also received a cheque for £129.74, which said it was a repayment of income tax for 2015/2016. He also received a letter changing his tax code from 1223M to 1265M. He owed £82 tax, so I guess they took that off the amount he would have been paid back for 2015/2016 before sending the cheque.

Except I also received a letter saying I underpaid in 2015/2016 and owe £213.80.

I rang them and the marriage allowance was backdated to 2015/2016 instead of 2016/2017, like I asked. I was a taxpayer in 2015/2016 tax year, so obviously wouldn't be entitled to marriage allowance for that year... right? The woman on the phone couldn't seem to grasp this and kept trying to tell me the ways I could repay the underpayment. But I paid the correct amount of tax for my tax code during that tax year and the underpayment is only there because they backdated the marriage allowance to 2015 instead of 2016.

She's going to refer it (whatever that means) and I should receive a letter in a few weeks, apparently. She couldn't change the date its backdated to over the phone.

Can someone help me understand where this has all gone wrong? I expected my husband to receive a cheque for the marriage allowance backdated to 2016/2017. He hasn't received this. We haven't cashed the cheque for 2015/2016 and I'm glad we haven't, because he's obviously not entitled to it, (unless I pay the underpayment showing on my tax account, I guess) but will he still receive a cheque for last year? Or have I misunderstood how it gets backdated and is he only entitled to the increased tax code going forward?

Not sure how best to sort this out and a little worried about making the mess worse, because I don't really understand what's happened.

girllikeme1

There is a clause that says if there's an underpayment and it wasn't your fault, i.e. it's their error or your employer's error, you can get them to write it off. I managed this successfully by writing to them stating why I felt I had done everything in my power to avoid an underpayment. You could try this.

polymaff

Ostara84 wrote: »

I hope someone here can help...

So I called hmrc a couple of weeks ago to set up marriage allowance, which seemed simple enough at the time. They asked if I wanted to backdate it for last year, and I said I did.

Did you explicitly agree the applicable years? Your statement, above, isn't clear - at least to me - on this?

Often there are other contemporary issues which makes it difficult to be sure, but if you were working in 2015/16 and had a taxable income of more than 90% of your personal allowance, then as part of the settlement, HMRC are asking you to pay the tax on the income pushed into taxation by your (apparent) decision to opt for MAT for 2015/16.

Ostara84 wrote: »

I was a taxpayer in 2015/2016 tax year, so obviously wouldn't be entitled to marriage allowance for that year... right?

Wrong - see post #914, above.

Ostara84

Thanks, polymaff. I thought I'd made it pretty clear on the phone. I gave them the dates that I went on maternity leave and confirmed that I didn't pay any tax during the last tax year. But even if I didn't state the year, I spoke to them during the 2017/2018 tax year and we agreed "last year", which could only be 2016/2017, surely?

I was hoping someone would be able to answer my question about whether my husband should have received a backdated amount for 2016/2017, but I guess I'll just wait for the letter to arrive and hopefully figure it all out then.

Thank you for your help.

sheramber

Ostara84 wrote: »

Thanks, polymaff. I thought I'd made it pretty clear on the phone. I gave them the dates that I went on maternity leave and confirmed that I didn't pay any tax during the last tax year. But even if I didn't state the year, I spoke to them during the 2017/2018 tax year and we agreed "last year", which could only be 2016/2017, surely?

I was hoping someone would be able to answer my question about whether my husband should have received a backdated amount for 2016/2017, but I guess I'll just wait for the letter to arrive and hopefully figure it all out then.

Thank you for your help.

Final year figures for 2016/17 may not yet be available to HMRC. Even if they are there will be thousands of cases to be reviewed and only so many can be dealt with in a day. It will take time to get them all done.