Knowing how marriage allowance works can be difficult, which is why LJS Accounting Services are here to help. Marriage allowance is available to those who are either in a civil partnership or married, usually when one person in the couple is lower-paid and can transfer £1,260 of their own personal allowance to a partner.
Whoever in the couple is the highest-earning spouse and earns less than the personal tax allowance must also be a basic-rate taxpayer. The higher-earning partner usually takes care of the personal allowance given by their civil partner and receives a tax credit equivalent to the number of allowances originally transferred to them at an intermediate rate.
It can be challenging to understand the HMRC marriage allowance, especially if you’re newlywed. At LJS Accounting Services, we take care of and manage issues regarding HMRC, giving guidance and expert advice to our loyal customers. If you’d like to learn more about marriage allowance, read on.
Who is Eligible for Marriage Allowance?
According to gov.uk, you’ll be able to benefit from tax allowance marriage if you’re legally in a committed civil partnership or married to your spouse. If you don’t pay income tax or your personal allowance is higher than the income that you earn, you will be able to have a marriage allowance.
The marriage allowance is a government tax perk, but with over four million couples being eligible for the allowance, is there a reason that only half of them are claiming it? Millions of couples aren’t making the claim, meaning they’re missing out on payments each year.
Many couples believe that they have a chance of reaping the benefits of marriage allowance because they live together, but this isn’t how it works. To make a marriage allowance claim, you must be born after the 5th of April 1935 – if you were before this date, you should look into married couples allowance instead.
How Does Marriage Allowance Get Paid?
There’s always much speculation and confusion around whether or not you get paid your marriage tax, but this isn’t the case. The marriage allowance isn’t paid to either you or your spouse, but instead, acts as a tax relief for whoever pays the basic tax rate.
Like all of us who are working, the partner with the highest income will still be taxed, just on a smaller proportion of their salary. Each month, the extra money will be received each week or month (depending on when the holder of the account the allowance is in gets paid).
Although the typical way of benefiting from your marriage allowance is by getting taxed on a smaller scale, some couples have their marriage allowance sent to them through the post via cheque.
Marriage allowance is sent through the post usually when a couple applies for a backdated allowance before a certain year. If you’re backdating your claim and don’t know what to do, reach out to us today.
If at any point you’re out of work, you’ll be glad to know that you can make use of the allowance money by having 10% transferred to your partner. Although this seems like an advantage when you’re not earning, your partner must be.
Can You Cancel Marriage Allowance?
HMRC must be contacted immediately if you’re wanting to cancel your marriage allowance. If there’s been a death, separation or divorce between you and your previous partner, the marriage allowance will be cancelled straight away – this won’t cause any prolonged problems, and you won’t need to pay anything back.
Ringing the income tax helpline can help if you’re wanting to cancel your marriage allowance.
If your income rises and you’re not eligible for a marriage allowance, it’s crucial that you inform someone. Many people think they can get away with continuing to claim their marriage allowance even if they’ve had a pay rise or got a new job with a better salary, but it usually gets flagged up.
How LJS Accounting Services Can Help
With years of experience and knowledge working alongside couples who are having financial problems or disputes, you can rest assured that LJS Accounting Services can help when it comes to dealing with the HMRC marriage allowance.
Our team of experts offer an array of services, including HMRC Investigations and Disclosures, Personal Tax and more.
Our team is here regardless of the time of day to share our expertise with our loyal customers – if you need general advice about marriage allowance and want to learn more about it, feel free to contact a member of our team.
If you’d like to speak with us regarding our costs, we have a contact page available on our site. We look forward to hearing from you and welcoming new clients onboard.
Keli Evans, Director at LJS Accounting Services, excels in taxation and statutory accounts. With a focus on strong client relationships, she leads a diverse portfolio, overseeing vital financial aspects like VAT, payroll, pensions, and taxation with a holistic and committed approach.
