Marriage allowance refund timescale

sunshine0123

I was wondering if anyone on here has recently been refunded with the marriage allowance cheque. I have recently found out about marriage allowance and knowing that I can qualify I applied online. I have done my self assessment at the end of November, applied for marriage allowance and within few days my husband's tax code has been changed. I could see on the HMRC app that marriage allowance is active and has been applied retrospectively for previous years. Total is £1260. It was on 24th November 2024. 
Do I have to make some other steps I am missing? Do I just wait for the cheque?
There was an option on the app to check or update the marriage allowance but when I looked today and yesterday it says "Sorry, the service is unavailable" and I will be able to use it later. 
Thank you all for any feedback.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

sunshine0123 said:

I was wondering if anyone on here has recently been refunded with the marriage allowance cheque. I have recently found out about marriage allowance and knowing that I can qualify I applied online. I have done my self assessment at the end of November, applied for marriage allowance and within few days my husband's tax code has been changed. I could see on the HMRC app that marriage allowance is active and has been applied retrospectively for previous years. Total is £1260. It was on 24th November 2024. 
Do I have to make some other steps I am missing? Do I just wait for the cheque?
There was an option on the app to check or update the marriage allowance but when I looked today and yesterday it says "Sorry, the service is unavailable" and I will be able to use it later. 
Thank you all for any feedback.

I think you have got a bit confused.

If you have applied for Marriage Allowance why are you expecting a tax refund 🤔.

Anyone applying for Marriage Allowance will either pay the same amount of tax or more, never less.

born_again

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

sunshine0123 said:

I was wondering if anyone on here has recently been refunded with the marriage allowance cheque. I have recently found out about marriage allowance and knowing that I can qualify I applied online. I have done my self assessment at the end of November, applied for marriage allowance and within few days my husband's tax code has been changed. I could see on the HMRC app that marriage allowance is active and has been applied retrospectively for previous years. Total is £1260. It was on 24th November 2024. 
Do I have to make some other steps I am missing? Do I just wait for the cheque?
There was an option on the app to check or update the marriage allowance but when I looked today and yesterday it says "Sorry, the service is unavailable" and I will be able to use it later. 
Thank you all for any feedback.

I think you have got a bit confused.

If you have applied for Marriage Allowance why are you expecting a tax refund 🤔.

Anyone applying for Marriage Allowance will either pay the same amount of tax or more, never less.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/marriage-tax-allowance/

Drop down to how much can I get & many of us got refunds 👍

Dazed_and_C0nfused

born_again said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

sunshine0123 said:

I was wondering if anyone on here has recently been refunded with the marriage allowance cheque. I have recently found out about marriage allowance and knowing that I can qualify I applied online. I have done my self assessment at the end of November, applied for marriage allowance and within few days my husband's tax code has been changed. I could see on the HMRC app that marriage allowance is active and has been applied retrospectively for previous years. Total is £1260. It was on 24th November 2024. 
Do I have to make some other steps I am missing? Do I just wait for the cheque?
There was an option on the app to check or update the marriage allowance but when I looked today and yesterday it says "Sorry, the service is unavailable" and I will be able to use it later. 
Thank you all for any feedback.

I think you have got a bit confused.

If you have applied for Marriage Allowance why are you expecting a tax refund 🤔.

Anyone applying for Marriage Allowance will either pay the same amount of tax or more, never less.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/marriage-tax-allowance/

Drop down to how much can I get & many of us got refunds 👍

The op has clearly stated they were the person who applied.

The person who applies gets a reduced Personal Allowance.  They cannot pay less tax as a result of this.

The spouse gets the refund.

The article you linked to is wrong in quite a few places but it does state this.  Which is a bit simplistic but the principle is correct.

If the taxpayer applies, you're doing it the wrong way round

Murphybear

We shop at Waitrose as we live in a small market town with just 2 supermarkets, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s.  

We’ve found their reductions are generally very good.  We got a leg of lamb for half price which got cubed and frozen for the barbecue season.  They have a good deli counter where you can taste as many samples as you like.  They have quite a lot of cheese that is more unusual.   We asked for a large piece of Kaltbach (a Swiss cheese my husband is particularly fond of) and after weighing it the person serving us dropped it.  He apologised and we said we would take it anyway, he wasn’t allowed to do that but was allowed to give it to us.  £7 worth of free cheese  . On another occasion they had a new French cheese in, one that is only sold as an individual wrapped cheese.  We couldn’t taste it so passed on it.  A few minutes later the store manager came up to us and presented us with the cheese as a gift.  We know from the staff that their branch has a budget for giving free items to regular customers.

My favourite thing though was not edible.  I was shopping on my own one evening and the customer service desk had a vase full of stunning dark red peonies.  I asked if I could buy one and was told sadly, no.  A few minutes later a member of staff turned up and gave me one.  How wonderful was that 

sunshine0123

Hi again, yes, I have phrased it incorrectly. I am aware that I transferred my allowance to my husband and he is the one getting a refund. I was just wondering if the waiting time can be this long. Is the cheque option is obligatory or do I or my husband have to call HMRC. 

sunshine0123

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

sunshine0123 said:

I was wondering if anyone on here has recently been refunded with the marriage allowance cheque. I have recently found out about marriage allowance and knowing that I can qualify I applied online. I have done my self assessment at the end of November, applied for marriage allowance and within few days my husband's tax code has been changed. I could see on the HMRC app that marriage allowance is active and has been applied retrospectively for previous years. Total is £1260. It was on 24th November 2024. 
Do I have to make some other steps I am missing? Do I just wait for the cheque?
There was an option on the app to check or update the marriage allowance but when I looked today and yesterday it says "Sorry, the service is unavailable" and I will be able to use it later. 
Thank you all for any feedback.

I think you have got a bit confused.

If you have applied for Marriage Allowance why are you expecting a tax refund 🤔.

Anyone applying for Marriage Allowance will either pay the same amount of tax or more, never less.

Hi, thank you for the reply. I did not explain it correctly, I am aware it is my husband who will receive the refund but just wondering about the timescale of it as it has been while. His tax code was changed on 24th November and there was no other communication since. I read about marriage allowance and wanted to check if getting a cheque is a real thing. Am I missing something?

sheramber

HMRC have a large backlog of work.

Previous years' claims are dealt with separately for current year ones.

Your husband's case will be in a queue , waiting until it is selected by the computer to be dealt with.

Yes, it is a case of waiting, unfortunately.

sunshine0123

sheramber said:

HMRC have a large backlog of work.

Previous years' claims are dealt with separately for current year ones.

Your husband's case will be in a queue , waiting until it is selected by the computer to be dealt with.

Yes, it is a case of waiting, unfortunately.

That's okay to wait I guess  As long as I know we have done it all from our side.