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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think we should be able to get married tax allowance?

23 replies

Tminus3days · 31/10/2019 06:42

We've just looked into this as I'm a nursing student so I'm not earning anything however, as DH is in the 40% tax bracket we can't get it. AIBU to think we should be able to get it just as much as a person in the 20% tax bracket?

OP posts:

PrincessRaven · 31/10/2019 07:10

Obviously they think that if one of.you is earning over 50k, you dont need it?

Which I'm a bit torn on, the level, as while 50k is a lot of money, it's quite a low level to remove things like this.

I'm on just over 50k, 2 teenagers, and a SAHP, so I support 4 on 50k (we're not hard done by at all), it's just not a very high wage these days)). I know it's not far from double the average, but we shouldn't be on a race to the bottom

Breeblebree · 31/10/2019 07:17

YABU. It’s there to help families on lower incomes, not just be free cash, otherwise they would just change the tax bracket. You don’t need the tiny bit of extra help.

AmIThough · 31/10/2019 07:25

I actually agree with you. People on lower wages get a lot of help. Especially if DP is just over the 40% tax bracket - married couples on a slightly lower wage may actually be better off.

DisgruntledGuineaPig · 31/10/2019 07:35

I agree with you, I do think that a married couple where one earns £10k and the other partner earns £50k should have the same amount coming in as a couple where both earn £30k.

If for benefits you are treated as a single unit, then I think for taxation you should be as well. (Many EU countries do this).

YobaOljazUwaque · 31/10/2019 07:52

The married couples allowance is worth £4.80 per week if one member of the couple isn't earning. Less than that if they are earning say £11,800 pa and only have a few hundred pounds of tax allowance unused. To a family on a low income that could make the difference between being below the poverty line and above it - its a significant amount of money.

If DH earns say £60k the take-home after tax and NI is £833.40 per week and that £4.80 is just a 0.3% boost to what is already a very healthy income (compare to £129 per week per person for a state pension or £73 per week for job seekers)

You don't need an extra £4.80 per week honestly. But if it would make that much of a difference you can easily earn that much doing things like online surveys - take a look at the "earn £10 a day" threads.

I hope DH is properly sharing his nice healthy income rather than making you pay 50% of household costs from your meagre nurses wage? If this thread is because you have no access to any cash then you are a victim of financial abuse.

DawnOfTheDeadleg · 31/10/2019 07:58

It doesn't seem very clear what the rationale for restricting it to a particular combination of tax bands was. Cameron said it was to value marriage and commitment, one might disagree with that but it was the stated purpose of the policy and if you want to encourage a behaviour then tax system nudges can be one way to do it. But apparently only to value it if your household income is in a specific bracket and with a particular split!

SafetyAdvice0FeedWhenAgitated · 31/10/2019 08:00

Amazing...
OP "Should marriage tax allowance be even for higher income?"
Poster "Are you being financially abused?"
Bit far fetched.

YANBU OP.

CAG12 · 31/10/2019 08:09

My days. EVERYONE wants a tax reduction yet EVERYONE wants more services from the NHS, cheaper train services etc etc.

Whos going to pay if those who earn a higher wage dont want to?

FWIW I dont think 50k is a particularly high wage these days. However you need to take into account the average wage, then the tax bracket is set against that

IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 31/10/2019 08:35

So you want a tax reduction despite not paying into the system yet will be using the health service etc.

TheBrockmans · 31/10/2019 08:40

Get a blue light card, you will probably save more on that for things like bills etc than married tax allowance gain. Life is full of such swings and roundabouts.

SoupDragon · 31/10/2019 08:44

I do think that a married couple where one earns £10k and the other partner earns £50k should have the same amount coming in as a couple where both earn £30k.

I agree.

How does it make sense if a couple where both earn £40k get it but a couple won't get it if one earns £50k and the other nothing?

DawnOfTheDeadleg · 31/10/2019 08:45

There's no requirement for both partners to be paying in to get the marriage allowance, though if OP is a trainee nurse she's likely to do more for the NHS than most. They'd get it if she earned nothing and DH was a pound below the 40% tax rate. This isn't about paying in or not, because there are people not paying in who benefit from the allowance.

isabellerossignol · 31/10/2019 08:48

So you want a tax reduction despite not paying into the system yet will be using the health service etc.

She's a student nurse. Someone who works for free within the NHS. The free labour she'll be giving the country during her training would surely be greater in financial value than a few pounds of tax.

And also, everyone pays into the system. Income tax is only one part of a bigger picture but everyone loves to pick on people who don't pay it. Which is presumably why the government introduced a high tax free allowance, so that even people who are working can get a good kicking for being non contributors.

DawnOfTheDeadleg · 31/10/2019 08:51

They won't soupdragon. Its only available where one spouse is a 20% taxpayer and the other has income below the personal allowance. Though there are still permutations where a couple with a lower income miss out on a payment a couple with a higher income can get. Eg a married couple both FT NMW which is about 16k each won't qualify, whereas if one earns 48k and one 11k they would.

Kazzyhoward · 31/10/2019 08:52

How does it make sense if a couple where both earn £40k get it but a couple won't get it if one earns £50k and the other nothing?

A couple earning £40k each couldn't benefit from the marriage allowance transfer as neither has unused personal allowance to transfer.

Userzzzzz · 31/10/2019 08:54

Can you have a look at increasing pension contributions to bring him under the threshold? There are lots of points where added pension can save you money.

Original poster

Tminus3days · 01/11/2019 06:42

Get a blue light card ooh I didn't know I was eligible as a student, I'll look into it, thanks. I don't think it's fair to suggest it wouldn't make a difference to us and that I could be doing £10 surveys etc. but yet I don't think it would be suggested to someone under the tax bracket. You can't really judge someone's financial situation purely based on their income. DH supports three of us, a mortgage etc. Some months we are really struggling.

Thank you to those who've pointed out I already put a lot in to the NHS. By the time I get to my third year I'll be working for free but doing the same job as a fully qualified nurse as by then I'll be working almost entirely independently. Before I went to university I was paying a lot into the system as I had a full time professional job for years and I'll be paying back in as soon as a qualify and get a job working for the NHS.

I'm just not sure there is a justification for that cut off. Especially as like PP have pointed out Cameron brought it in to make a point of valuing marriage yet only at a certain household income. I am not sure I agree that it should only be given to married couples but that's a whole other issue. I don't know, I suppose it's difficult and there will be people at all points on the spectrum that struggle and likewise there'll be people perfectly comfortable on our income. Believe me though when I say we've gone through every single one of our outgoings to cut them down to the bare minimum so it's not like we're spending lots on unnecessary things and expecting the government to pick up those costs.

OP posts:

minesagin37 · 01/11/2019 06:47

@YobaOljazUwaque - she's not on a wage. She's a student nurse. The bursary was scrapped by the government so she has to take out a student loan like any other student. ( unless she is on a BSc apprenticeship programme and I doubt that as there are only a few up and running)

Knucklehead101 · 01/11/2019 06:54

people on lower wages get a lot of help

I wonder why that might be...

Temeraire · 01/11/2019 07:04

I think it’s pretty short sighted to restrict it. One of the reasons that Cameron wanted to incentivise marriage (along with it being popular with his core vote demographic) is because unmarried couples with a SAHP can be a liability to the treasury if they split up and the SAHP has no assets or income so needs to claim benefits. That reasoning doesn’t drop when the higher earner gets £50K.

DawnOfTheDeadleg · 01/11/2019 07:42

I'm just not sure there is a justification for that cut off. Especially as like PP have pointed out Cameron brought it in to make a point of valuing marriage yet only at a certain household income.

It's not even at a certain household income, only a certain distribution. The 20% rate starts at £12,500 and ends at £50,000. That means a married couple earning 12.5k each and with a household income of 25k won't get it, because neither has any unused personal allowance to pass to their spouse. But a couple where one earns 48.8k and the other 11.3k and thus have a total household income of over 60k can, because the lower earner has personal allowance unused and the higher earner is still on the 20% tax band.

There isn't a way to get it with a household income of much more than 60k so we're not talking the mega rich, but nor is it a benefit specifically for low income married couples either.

Deathgrip · 01/11/2019 07:50

Especially as like PP have pointed out Cameron brought it in to make a point of valuing marriage yet only at a certain household income

You mean a Tory thought so little of the unwashed poor that they could be incentivised to stop having illegitimate kids and get married for the sake of at most a few quid a week?

Shocking.

DawnOfTheDeadleg · 01/11/2019 08:01

Well the very poorest might not get it at all. You need to have one partner earning enough to pay income tax to see any benefit. Millions of people are below that threshold.

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