Marriage Tax Allowance non-working wife

provilo

A couple of years ago I applied for Marriage Tax Allowance, not fully understanding it.
I filled in the claim form and it went through allowance is taken from me and applied to my wife.
The thing is my wife is American, now in the process of applying for her final visa to remain here.
She has been here 5 years and does not work, has no income.
Reading things lately I have been wondering whether
Is it right that she gets the Marriage Tax Allowance?

tboo

provilo wrote: »

A couple of years ago I applied for Marriage Tax Allowance, not fully understanding it.
I filled in the claim form and it went through allowance is taken from me and applied to my wife.
The thing is my wife is American, now in the process of applying for her final visa to remain here.
She has been here 5 years and does not work, has no income.
Reading things lately I have been wondering whether
Is it right that she gets the Marriage Tax Allowance?

It might be best if you post this on the cutting tax board.

I'm not sure how it would work though as she would have be the higher earner to benefit, and as you state she isn't working.

Do HMRC know she isn't working?

Quote
Marriage Allowance lets you transfer £1,190 of your Personal Allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner - if they earn more than you. This reduces their tax by up to £238 in the tax year (6 April to 5 April the next year). To benefit as a couple, you (as the lower earner) must have an income of £11,850 or less.

Darksparkle

Why did you transfer some of your allowance to her rather than other way about?

sheramber

By transferring the allowance to your wife you will pay more tax as your personal allowance has been reduced.
As she is not working she cannot benefit from the extra personal allowance.

Did your wife receive any notification from HMRC when the transfer was done?

She needs to contact HMRC to cancel the transfer of the allowance as then it will apply from the date of the first transfer.

She can then apply to transfer the allowance to you.

I suggest you contact HMRC. Phoning just before 8am can be successful in getting through.

teddysmum

I think the person who makes the transfer is the one who has to take it back, as it is this person who ordered the transfer.

Dazed_and_confused

According to gov.uk it is your wife, the person currently receiving Marriage Allowance, who should cancel it in the circumstances you describe.

Once that has been done your wife can then apply for Marriage Allowance. She will then lose some of her Personal Allowance and you will be entitled to a reduction in your tax bill for each year she applies for (you don't actually get any extra allowances as such but it works out the same for most people).

https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance/if-your-circumstances-change

sheramber

teddysmum wrote: »

I think the person who makes the transfer is the one who has to take it back, as it is this person who ordered the transfer.

Not if they want the allowance cancelled from the date of the first transfer

https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance/if-your-circumstances-change

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.

teddysmum

I think the OP has been confused by the usage of 'allowance'.


The Marriage Allowance is a tax allowance of 10% of a spouse's allowance, whereas other allowances, like Disability Living Allowance are actual payments to the claimant.

sheramber

The OP has stated he didn't understand the Marriage Allowance. He is not alone in that. Many people thought the person wanting the allowance applied for it rather than the person giving it.

It would have been better of the terminology stated claiming to 'give marriage allowance ' instead of 'claiming Marriage Allowance '.

It doesn't really matter what he misunderstood. What matters now is how he fixes it.