Continue with Marriage Allowance or not?

felinefancy

Afternoon.

I was working part-time earning nett £968 per month and applied for Marriage Allowance.  

Last month I lost my job and am actively seeking full-time work (or could do part-time if remote).  Aside from actually getting a job, if I do it's likely to be full-time and over the earnings threshold for marriage allowance.  I know that we can request to change tax codes at any time but these are applied at the start of each new tax year.  Should I hang on to the marriage allowance as I don't know how long I'll be out of work... or change back to the standard tax code 1257L for 1st April 2024 in preparation for hopefully getting a new full-time job? 

molerat

If both of you are tax payers marriage allowance will simply decide who gets the £252, it makes no difference to your total income as a couple (except maybe marginally in Scotland with 19% tax)  You could cancel now and apply again later next year if you are not going to reach your full allowance.

felinefancy

@molerat - many thanks for your response, but with the greatest of respect, this doesn't actually answer my query because I'm being dull!  If I'm not working then hubby will get the £252, but once I start work I'll be earning more than allowed on the marriage allowance at which point I should be on 1257L.  So query is, shall I keep with the marriage allowance tax code for now, or get it changed to 1257L should I get a full time job in the near future?  

In my previous job I was on 1257L when I should have been on the marriage allowance code and ended up having to pay £300 tax because I was over the marriage allowance threshold.  It's just to decide which code I keep because any changes have to be advised to HMRC ready for 1st April.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

felinefancy said:

@molerat - many thanks for your response, but with the greatest of respect, this doesn't actually answer my query because I'm being dull!  If I'm not working then hubby will get the £252, but once I start work I'll be earning more than allowed on the marriage allowance at which point I should be on 1257L.  So query is, shall I keep with the marriage allowance tax code for now, or get it changed to 1257L should I get a full time job in the near future?  

In my previous job I was on 1257L when I should have been on the marriage allowance code and ended up having to pay £300 tax because I was over the marriage allowance threshold.  It's just to decide which code I keep because any changes have to be advised to HMRC ready for 1st April.

You have misunderstood how Marriage Allowance works, possibly due to poor explanation on gov.uk.

You only stop being eligible if you are a higher rate payer.

So getting a job earning say £25k doesn't mean you aren't eligible.

You would be paying £252 more tax than you strictly need to but if your spouse is getting the full £252 benefit then as a couple you are no worse off overall.