Marriage Allowance Rebate Refusal

AspenAndy

Following the recent publicity about getting a Marriage Allowance rebate,  my wife recently applied. Our understanding is that as the one who earns the least and pays less or no tax, she should be the one to apply. 

Our situation is quite simple.

We are both retired and in receipt of State Pensions. We live in Scotland. 

However, I'm taxed at the basic rate on my income because I have other private pensions that I contributed to whilst working. My wife is in receipt of a State Pension only and pays no tax. 

She applied online to see if she was entitled to this rebate and it took (us both) about an hour to plough through the Government website only to be told that her application had been refused. No explanation was given.

If she isn't entitled to it, fair enough, but just to be told somewhat abruptly, that her application had been refused with no reason given, seemed akin to a 'Big Brother' state and not very pleasant. 

To rub salt into the wound, when they called a halt to her online efforts, they had the nerve to ask her to complete a short survey to see how she felt about their website. 🤬

Can anyone advise please?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

What is your tax code?

Is it possible you pay higher rate tax?  The threshold for that is much lower in Scotland.

Even £1 taxed at higher rate would make you ineligible.

molerat

If both of you are not higher rate tax payers then you are eligible for the marriage allowance, as simple as that.  There must be more to the rejection.  The only option is to give them a call, you need to ring right on opening time to avoid a long wait.  Or maybe try again.

sheramber

Are you sure your wife applied for Marriage Transfer Allowance and not Married Couples Allowamce

smithwilfer1

It is frustrating when government processes are unclear and unhelpful. It is worth reaching out to them directly for an explanation or seeking assistance from a financial advisor who can provide guidance on tax allowances and rebates. Don't give up, and keep advocating for what you believe is fair.

BoGoF

smithwilfer1 said:

It is frustrating when government processes are unclear and unhelpful. It is worth reaching out to them directly for an explanation or seeking assistance from a financial advisor who can provide guidance on tax allowances and rebates. Don't give up, and keep advocating for what you believe is fair.

Pointless spending money on an advisor for a relatively small sum.

Going to disagree the process is unclear. It's pretty straightforward and cannot legislate for user error which I'm going to say is partly a factor here.

xylophone

Are you sure your wife applied for Marriage Transfer Allowance and not Married Couples Allowamce

https://www.deliveringforscotland.gov.uk/households/marriage-allowance/#:~:text=What is the Marriage Allowance,5 April the next year).

MARRIAGE ALLOWANCE

Couples can claim a marriage allowance tax break worth up to £252.  It takes just a few minutes to apply for online and is available to people in Scotland and across the UK.

Who is eligible?

You could benefit from Marriage Allowance if all the following apply:

• you’re married or in a civil partnership
• you don’t earn anything, you don’t pay income tax or your income is below your Personal Allowance.  For most the Personal Allowance is £12,570
• your partner pays tax at the basic rate of tax (or the Scottish starter, basic or intermediate rate).  For most this means their income is between £12,571 and £50,270 (or £43,662 if you’re in Scotland).

Your claim can be backdated to include any tax year since 5 April 2019 that you were eligible for Marriage Allowance.

The person with the lowest earnings should make the claim.

The OP (resident in Scotland) states that he pays basic rate tax.

The guidance above does not draw any distinction between Married Couples' Allowance and the transferable tax allowance for married couples.

https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-nic/income-tax/tax-allowances/marriage-allowance-transferable-tax-allowance

sheramber

xylophone said:

Are you sure your wife applied for Marriage Transfer Allowance and not Married Couples Allowamce

https://www.deliveringforscotland.gov.uk/households/marriage-allowance/#:~:text=What is the Marriage Allowance,5 April the next year).

MARRIAGE ALLOWANCE

Couples can claim a marriage allowance tax break worth up to £252.  It takes just a few minutes to apply for online and is available to people in Scotland and across the UK.

Who is eligible?

You could benefit from Marriage Allowance if all the following apply:

• you’re married or in a civil partnership
• you don’t earn anything, you don’t pay income tax or your income is below your Personal Allowance.  For most the Personal Allowance is £12,570
• your partner pays tax at the basic rate of tax (or the Scottish starter, basic or intermediate rate).  For most this means their income is between £12,571 and £50,270 (or £43,662 if you’re in Scotland).

Your claim can be backdated to include any tax year since 5 April 2019 that you were eligible for Marriage Allowance.

The person with the lowest earnings should make the claim.

The OP (resident in Scotland) states that he pays basic rate tax.

The guidance above does not draw any distinction between Married Couples' Allowance and the transferable tax allowance for married couples.

https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-nic/income-tax/tax-allowances/marriage-allowance-transferable-tax-allowance

“It takes just a few minutes to applyfor online and is available to people in Scotland and across the UK”

The OP states they spent nearly an hour ploughing through the Gov website.
were they applying for the correct allowance?

Until the OP returns we will not know.