Author: Ketan Umretiya

The marriage allowance came into force in 2015 and applies to married couples and those in a civil partnership where a spouse or civil partner doesn’t pay tax or doesn’t pay tax above the basic rate threshold for Income Tax (i.e., one of the couples must currently earn less than the £12,570 personal allowance for 2020-21).

The allowance works by permitting the lower earning partner to transfer up to £1,260 of their personal tax-free allowance to their spouse or civil partner. The marriage allowance can only be used when the recipient of the transfer (the higher earning partner) doesn’t pay more than the basic 20% rate of Income Tax. This would usually mean that their income is between £12,570 to £50,270 in 2020-21. The limits are somewhat different for those living in Scotland.

The allowance permits the lower earning partner to transfer up to £1,260 of their unused personal tax-free allowance to a spouse or civil partner. This could result in a saving of up to £252 for the recipient (20% of £1,260), or £21 a month for the current tax year.

If you meet the eligibility requirements and have not yet claimed the allowance, then you can backdate your claim as far back as 6 April 2017. This could result in a total tax break of up to £1,220 if you can claim for 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 as well as the current 2021-22 tax year. If you claim now, you can backdate your claim for four years (if eligible) as well as for the current tax year. In fact, even if you are no longer eligible or would have been in all or any of the preceding years then you can claim your entitlement.

The Gift Aid scheme is available to all UK taxpayers. The charity or Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC) concerned can take your donation and, providing all the qualifying conditions are met, reclaim the basic rate tax. This increases the value of your donation by 25p for every pound donated.

If you are a higher rate or additional rate taxpayer, you are eligible to claim additional tax relief on the difference between the basic rate and your highest rate of tax.

For example:

If you donated £5,000 to charity, the total value of the donation to the charity is £6,250. You can claim back additional tax of:

• £1,250 if you pay tax at the higher rate of 40% (£6,250 × 20%),
• £1,562.50 if you pay tax at the additional rate of 45% (£6,250 × 25%).

If you are a higher rate or additional rate taxpayer you also have the option to carry back your charitable donations made in the current tax year, to the previous tax year.

A request to carry back the donation must be made before or at the same time as your previous year’s Self-Assessment return is completed.

This means that if you made a gift to charity in the current 2021-22 tax year that ends on 5 April 2022, you can accelerate repayment of any tax associated with your charitable giving. This can be a useful strategy to maximise tax relief if you will not pay higher rate tax in the current tax year but did in the previous tax year. This should be done as part of the Self-Assessment tax return for 2020-21 which must be submitted by 31 January 2022.

You can only claim if your donations qualify for gift aid. This means that your donations for both tax years together must not be more than 4 times what you paid in tax in the previous year. If you do not complete a tax return you need to use a P810 form to make a claim.

A tax calculation is created by HMRC if you have not paid the right amount of tax. HMRC’s annual reconciliation of PAYE for the tax year 2020-21 is now almost complete. HMRC use salary and pension information to calculate if you have paid the correct amount of tax.

The tax calculation is usually generated automatically by HMRC’s computer systems on what is known as a P800 form. P800s are generally sent out from after the end of the tax year and the process is generally completed by the end of November. The P800 form is also used if you have not paid enough tax so be sure to read the document carefully.

If you are due a refund, the P800 form will usually tell you that you can claim a refund online. Once you complete the claim online, the refund will be paid within 5 working days and will be in your UK account once your bank has processed the payment. If you do not claim the refund online within 45 days, HMRC will send you a cheque.

If your P800 tells you that you will be repaid by cheque, then you do not need to take any further action and you should receive a cheque within 14 days of the date on the P800 Tax Calculation.

If you have not received a P800 form but think that you have overpaid tax, you can contact HMRC to inform them. If HMRC agree that you are due a tax refund they will send you a P800 form.

If you complete a Self-Assessment return, then you should not expect to receive a P800 form as any underpayment or overpayment of tax will be handled by way of your tax return.