Married tax allowance - Nightmare applying

hubb

Well its an absolute nightmare to try and apply for my wife who isn't earning for the last 2 years to get the relief as my income (self employed) falls in the criteria to claim. She has been on the HMRC site, registered, name, address, nat insurance number, date of birth and they still cannot verify her identity as they seem to want a passport (which she doesn't have) BUT has a uk driving licence which they don't seem interested in. So after registering, email codes sent, text message code sent, and all the other information given they still cannot verify her identity (UK citizen from birth) and there is no way of emailing HMRC with this complaint.

Obviously they want to do everything to put you off applying by making it virtually impossible (unless you have a passport) :mad::(

Dazed_and_confused

as my income (self employed) falls in the criteria to claim.

It isn't actually your (taxable) income that matters, it is what rate(s) of tax you are liable for.

Most people are eligible to either apply for or receive Marriage Allowance although not all can benefit from it (as a couple overall).

The simplest thing would seem to be for to phone HMRC and apply that way. She needs to be clear about which tax year(s) she wishes to apply for before phoning.

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

If she applies for the current tax year (2019:20) then her application will usually continue each year until one of you chooses to stop it.

Remember HMRC do not check if you, as a couple, can benefit from Marriage Allowance, they only check if you are eligible. Husband and wife both earning £40k are eligible.
So it is important she checks which are the correct years for her to apply for.

hubb

Dazed_and_confused wrote: »

It isn't actually your (taxable) income that matters, it is what rate(s) of tax you are liable for.

Most people are eligible to either apply for or receive Marriage Allowance although not all can benefit from it (as a couple overall).

The simplest thing would seem to be for to phone HMRC and apply that way. She needs to be clear about which tax year(s) she wishes to apply for before phoning.

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

If she applies for the current tax year (2019:20) then her application will usually continue each year until one of you chooses to stop it.

Remember HMRC do not check if you, as a couple, can benefit from Marriage Allowance, they only check if you are eligible. Husband and wife both earning £40k are eligible.
So it is important she checks which are the correct years for her to apply for.

I think you may have misunderstood me. I earn from being self employed but my wife does not earn anything (hopes to soon with earnings from selling Art) She left her job in 2017 and hasn't earned since. I was told by my accountant that she can claim tax allowance on my earnings which would mean my tax bill will be less (as I earn a low income from my self employment)

Dazed_and_confused

I think you may have misunderstood me.

Don't think so.

I earn from being self employed but my wife does not earn anything (hopes to soon with earnings from selling Art) She left her job in 2017 and hasn't earned since. I was told by my accountant that she can claim tax allowance on my earnings which would mean my tax bill will be less (as I earn a low income from my self employment)

She cannot "claim tax allowances on my earnings". To be honest I don't know what that even means. But given you have titled this thread Married tax allowance I'm assuming it is respect of Marriage Allowance. It could be about the much more beneficial (for you) Married Couple's Allowance however I suspect you are too young to be eligible for that.

What I do know is that your wife sounds like she is eligible to apply for Marriage Allowance. Each tax year she applies for means she loses part of her Personal Allowance. For example in the current tax year the Personal Allowance is £12,500. If she applied for Marriage Allowance her Personal Allowance is only £11,250. Which may not impact her one jot.

She left her job in 2017 and hasn't earned since

That doesn't really mean much. "2017" was part of two tax years, 2016:17 and 2017:18 and it is important she understands the potential consequences for each individual tax year before applying otherwise she could end up with an unexpected tax bill.

By applying you then become entitled to a tax credit against your tax liability. For the current tax year this is worth £250. So if your income tax liability was say £1,000 then it would be reduced to £750. If it was £150 it would be reduced to £0. You wouldn't get a "refund" of the unused £100.

hubb

Dazed_and_confused wrote: »

Don't think so.



She cannot "claim tax allowances on my earnings". To be honest I don't know what that even means. But given you have titled this thread Married tax allowance I'm assuming it is respect of Marriage Allowance. It could be about the much more beneficial (for you) Married Couple's Allowance however I suspect you are too young to be eligible for that.

What I do know is that your wife sounds like she is eligible to apply for Marriage Allowance. Each tax year she applies for means she loses part of her Personal Allowance. For example in the current tax year the Personal Allowance is £12,500. If she applied for Marriage Allowance her Personal Allowance is only £11,250. Which may not impact her one jot.

By applying you then become entitled to a tax credit against your tax liability. For the current tax year this is worth £250. So if your income tax liability was say £1,000 then it would be reduced to £750. If it was £150 it would be reduced to £0. You wouldn't get a "refund" of the unused £100.

Yes, that's exactly what I meant. But whenever she tries to apply online they seem to want to get her to verify her identity with a passport (which she hasn't got) so she enters her Nat insurance number etc etc and they still can't verify her in this computerised data world. Unbelievable.

sheramber

You also need a way to prove your identity. This can be one of the following:

the last 4 digits of the account that your child benefit, tax credits or pension is paid into
the last 4 digits of an account that pays you interest
details from your P60
details from any of your 3 most recent payslips
your passport number and expiry date
https://www.gov.uk/apply-marriage-allowance

Try phoning them

p00hsticks

sheramber wrote: »

You also need a way to prove your identity. This can be one of the following:

the last 4 digits of the account that your child benefit, tax credits or pension is paid into
the last 4 digits of an account that pays you interest
details from your P60
details from any of your 3 most recent payslips
your passport number and expiry date
https://www.gov.uk/apply-marriage-allowance

Try phoning them

As the OP's wife hasn't been employed for the last couple of years and doesn't have a passport she may struggle to meet any of those. I agree she needs to ring them to discuss

.

Dazed_and_confused

The only problem the op has is the reluctance to (get his wife) to phone HMRC.

In the original post he said,

She has been on the HMRC site, registered, name, address, nat insurance number

So there really isn't an issue if he were to follow the suggestion in posts 2, 6 and now 7.

polymaff

It sounds as though your wife hasn't got a MAT/HMRC problem, she's got a Government Gateway ID problem.

If you agree with the above, then call HMRC tomorrow and stick to and deal with the MAT election only. HMRC are not responsible for Government Gateway ID problems.

Saturdays always seem to be a good time to get through on the 'phone.

EDIT: Passportless Mrs P. had the same ID problem. Fortunately she has a Barclays bank account and so could use their Verify service instead; and it worked.

https://www.barclays.co.uk/journal/self-assessment/

molerat

MrsM has not got a passport, photo driving licence or P60 and managed to verify with CRA info.

melchet

I earn and pay standard tax, husband self employed does his own accounts and self assessment. Just ten days ago we both applied for the marriage allowance transfer. Letters arrived to both of us on Thursday this week, 890.00 cheque to me arrived Saturday!