Marriage Allowance - PhD student with stipend

fandango92

Hello,

I have been reading about the marriage tax allowance. I am a PhD student who is given a stipend of ~£14k annually, and by EU law, none of this is taxable. My wife earns ~£17-18k before tax. Are we still eligible to the allowance, as I do not technically pay taxable income?

Cheers!

polymaff

Who is paying you the stipend?

What are they paying you the stipend to do?

agrinnall

polymaff wrote: »

Who is paying you the stipend?

What are they paying you the stipend to do?

Why does it matter, the OP has already explained that it is a PhD stipend and that it's non-taxable.

OP, I think you would be able to take advantage of the marriage allowance transfer, perhaps give HMRC a call to confirm (early in the morning is the best time).

polymaff

agrinnall wrote: »

Why does it matter, the OP has already explained that it is a PhD stipend and that it's non-taxable.

Do you always take everything you read as gospel? The answers to my questions may contradict his original statement.

booksurr

polymaff wrote: »

The answers to my questions may contradict his original statement.

quite right, they may ...

for example: "Researchers are sometimes informed, either by Brussels or the research organisation they are working for, that payments under these schemes are exempt from income tax in the UK. As a general proposition this is not true. "

OP needs to read the whole of the "scholarship income" section to be clear as to his actual status and therefore whether he is, or is not, in receipt of taxable income
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim04700

CLAPTON

fandango92 wrote: »

Hello,

I have been reading about the marriage tax allowance. I am a PhD student who is given a stipend of ~£14k annually, and by EU law, none of this is taxable. My wife earns ~£17-18k before tax. Are we still eligible to the allowance, as I do not technically pay taxable income?

Cheers!

as I see it, the answer is yes you can transfer 10% of your allowance to your wife: if however your stipend is actually taxable then it will save nothing

agrinnall

booksurr wrote: »

"Researchers are sometimes informed, either by Brussels or the research organisation they are working for, that payments under these schemes are exempt from income tax in the UK. As a general proposition this is not true. "

I think that's incorrect. I would say that as a general proposition it is true, but there are a minority of circumstances in which there is no tax exemption.

Should the OP decide to contact HMRC as I suggested then he can ask for a ruling on his particular stipend too, but I would expect what he understands now to be correct.

xylophone

http://www.taxguideforstudents.org.uk/other-income/do-i-have-to-pay-tax-on-scholarships-and-awards

http://www.savethestudent.org/student-jobs/6-student-tax-facts-you-need-to-know.html

If the "stipend"is a grant or bursary, it seems that it is unlikely to be taxable.

The first link above advises the recipient of any such grant to obtain confirmation in writing from the donor that it is tax free.

If the OP is receiving what is in effect a gift, then it should have no effect on his personal allowance - if he has no other income then he would be a non taxpayer and therefore eligible ( provided that his wife is not a HR taxpayer) to benefit from MA?

https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance/how-it-works

He or his wife can always check with HMRC.

booksurr

agrinnall wrote: »

I think that's incorrect. I would say that as a general proposition it is true, but there are a minority of circumstances in which there is no tax exemption. .

your "correction" to what i quoted direct from the manual says the same thing at the end of the day: tax exempt status does not always apply

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim06271

having audited many EC funded research projects the status of student researchers working on them is always something one needs to check for the exact reasons outlined in the manual - they may hold employee posts as well as, or instead of, mere "studenthood", only their contract confirms their true status

agrinnall

booksurr wrote: »

your "correction" to what i quoted direct from the manual says the same thing at the end of the day: tax exempt status does not always apply

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim06271

having audited many EC funded research projects the status of student researchers working on them is always something one needs to check for the exact reasons outlined in the manual - they may hold employee posts as well as, or instead of, mere "studenthood", only their contract confirms their true status

But the quote says "as a general proposition..." which to me implies in more than 50% of cases, and I don't think that's correct. Your extract from the manual is rather more circumspect and I have no issue with what it says.

booksurr

agrinnall wrote: »

But the quote says "as a general proposition..." which to me implies in more than 50% of cases, and I don't think that's correct. Your extract from the manual is rather more circumspect and I have no issue with what it says.

if you have no issue with what it says then what is your point since all i did was quote what it says in there? My apparent mistake was not to provide the link along with the quote, as you seem to think it was my wording rather than a direct quote