To think married couples should be taxed together

An extra grand is an extra grand that single people don’t get.

I’m baffled as to why people are advantaged based on their domestic and relationship choices. Everyone should pay the same rates, married or solo. Lifestyle choices shouldn’t be penalized/rewarded.

You can transfer the non earning spouse's personal tax allowance to the spouse who is earning. I have done this. It's called Marriage Tax Allowance.

I heard about it from Martin Lewis www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/marriage-tax-allowance/

Doesn't work like that in Ireland. We have more benefits, fairer benefits system, more protections for women, better services on the whole, and joint taxation which saves us money, not costs more.

Whatever way you set it up, SAH parenting only works in a respectful relationship. File jointly or separately,if you're reliant and in an unfair relationship, it's bad either way

If you think household income reforms would give women more money…the likeliest outcomes are that the govt would use it to take more tax from people, and further restrict benefits.. And possibly it’ll mean even more people don’t marry.

The option to file as a couple would be great in theory but only works when the couple is in a respectful relationship. For example, if a sahp is reliant on their working partner this set up would give the working partner a tax break but requires them to be fair with family money.

It's really simple and easy to change around. I earn more than my husband so I use part of his tax credits to offset my taxes, and take some of his rate band too. This maximises our allowances

@Newfun Yes, I understand that, but where will the magic money come from for this? Someone will pay - that someone being sole account holders. If banks thought it was profitable and good business they'd be doing it already. No, there's more than a whiff of unconscious couple entitlement here.

35 years we have had privacy and independence in taxation and hopefully long shall it remain

@TheCountessofLocksley the problem fir me is that that ‘privacy and independence’ is one that BOTH men and women have.
Now on paper, it’s great.
But what happens in the many cases where women dint know how much their dh earns? Don’t know how much savings they have?

A lot of people don’t have that ‘privacy’ anyway because as soon as you receive UC, it’s based on BOTH people earnings and savings.
So your entitlement you feel has been hard worn? It’s only for the richest anyway…..

And that’s wo talking about the fairness of the system.
Where a family with two people earning £40k pay vastly less taxes than a family with 1 big earner at £80k (and the other earning ‘pocket money’ at under £12k)

No, I think PP means the best rates are only available to sole account holders, not joint accounts...she's not asking for better, only the same.

I agree with you @OneAmberFinch for the simple reason that when it come to UC, it’s couples (not even married!) that are taken into account.
I feel this should be the same with child benefit too. (I’m thinking of the case where 1 person earns over the limit and you dint receive anything but 2 people earning each just under the threshold do).

Im not sure what the relationship with joint savings is. But it certainly would clarify what each person earns - ie it would avoid the many many times on here where women dint know what their dh earns or what they have savings wise etc…. whilst Theyre asked to contribute 50/50 because otherwise Theyre scroungers…..

For example, there are barely any joint savings accounts that pay a decent interest rate

Right, hold on ... setting aside the fairly obvious arguments about women having fought to have control over their money...

You think you deserve higher savings interest just because you are a couple? Conversely, I assume that you'd also be OK with single people having lower mortgage rates? Hmmm, thought not.

Sorry, but the entitlement here is truly shocking. Couples should not have any financial, tax or other advantages because they already have plenty - plenty - of advantages in society over single folks.

Financial advice is to make sure you are protecting your own future. Too many people stick their heads in the sand and think it’s too difficult and default to the main earner taking control.

Independent finances and taxation give married women freedom and parity with non married women. Prior to 6/4/90 married women often paid more tax than unmarried women due to the way the allowances worked.

35 years we have had privacy and independence in taxation and hopefully long shall it remain (which it will because it doesn’t meet the requirements of an equality impact assessment due to the disparity it would cause between married/unmarried people).

Yes in Ireland you can choose to be jointly or separately taxed.

It's not that unusual for women to be on the same or higher salaries then their partners.

From the women I am friends with this is the case for about 2/3rds of being on the same or more.

Also treating as a single unit unless they are going to significantly change the thresholds would leave a lot of families worse off. So you would end up with more women quitting and making less tax which makes zero sense!

I think there's a lot wrong with the tax system for shared households/single.

DP died. We each earned approx £50k so were both basic rate taxpayers.

Since he died, my costs are basically the same. I get a small pension from his employer which puts me in the higher tax bracket. The household income is much less, but I pay more tax.

Everything else costs more when you're single too, from food shopping, to days out, train travel and holidays.

And the child benefit thing is absolutely bonkers.

We get £25(ish) a week child benefit, and I’d never want to rely on benefits but if we could have some more tax relief on the basis on how many people DH income was supporting that would be grand :D

So you should be taxed less then me because I chose not to have kids, despite you using more of the NHS (not paying for dental treatments, pre natal care, the birth, post natal care), education etc?

I don’t want to be responsible for my DH tax affairs. I like being my own person.

Presumably all the brackets would be higher for two people.

I agree - it's how most civilised countries approach taxation, but in England 'I know my rights' brigade would be up in arms, as some of the responses show.... Rather be 'independent, innit', than fairly and proportionally taxed ( and I have no skin in the game, both myself and my husband are over the 40% tax threshold, but it would be fairer on single income families).

Nope - you are naive, It's how most countries in the world work, for good reason. Seems it doesn't suit the individualistic approach of the Brits though, ignorance is bliss.

No I way
Women fought for decades for separate taxation

I was just thinking this. I’m divorced and earn £66k, with the portion of my household income above £50k falling in the 40% tax bracket. Whereas a married couple with the same household income but earning £33k each would only be taxed at 20%.