Can I get another 40k pension allowance for DH?

[OooPourUsACupLove]

I earn, DH doesn’t.

I’m in the happy position that I can pay the full personal allowance into my pension.

I would like to also fund a pension for DH. He has no income and can’t fund his own.

Will I get a second allowance for contributions to a pension for DH as well, or will that have to come out of taxed income?

No.

You can pay in £2880 and he gets basic rate tax relief on that, so it becomes £3600.

He has no UK Relevant Earnings so cannot do more than that.

He can have an ISA... £20k annual allowance for that. Annual allowance runs 6th April to 5th April so if he has not used any ISA allowance this financial year, £20k could go in now, then £20k on 6th April.

No not the full £40k, £3600 which includes £720 tax relief.

You can pay up to £2880 per year into a SIPP for DH and the government will top it up by 20%, giving a total of £3600. Unfortunately there are no further tax breaks available for you.

Thanks everyone. Looks like the ISA route then. It does seem unfair that as the earning spouse my pension will support two people but I get no more allowance than a single person.

Could he have a Lisa?

Is there a reason why he can't /doesn't work. As that is surely the obvious solution.

And if it is childcare or similar then I think you can register so that you can still accrue state pension rights?

@OooPourUsACupLove

Thanks everyone. Looks like the ISA route then. It does seem unfair that as the earning spouse my pension will support two people but I get no more allowance than a single person.

It’s not unfair at all. You think the system should be adjusted so that those who can afford to support a second get more tax benefit? So the rich get richer, right?

How would you choose to implement that?
Fancy paying back the extra tax relief if he dies? Or if you split up, he should be told no pension credit is available, because you had your share of extra money in the extra tax relief?

@Cocomarine I agree.

You could pay £2880 into a pension and £4000 into a lifetime isa for him. So with the tax he'd be getting £8600 a year.

You could pay voluntary NI contributions for him, if he isn’t already getting credits through child benefit or any other benefit. They cost about £800 a year and each extra year’s credit will give him an extra £275 a year in retirement. It’s astonishingly good value.

Of course it is unfair that couples are taxed individually rather than on their joint income. Just look at the child benefit fgs. You can have two earning £50k each and get to keep the lot but if one earns £60k you get zero. If one stays at home to do the childcare, then of course you need to make provision for their pension. If you split up you could potentially lose half your own pension to pension sharing. And with you being a high earner you can’t even use the piddling married couples allowance.

I don't think it is unfair that taxation/child benefit etc are done individually. People act as if it is just good luck and a freebie that some people earn a second income. It takes a bit of effort to bring that money in you know!

A couple where one person earns £100k and the other doesn't work at all is much better off in a broad lifestyle sense than two people out at work all day earning £50k each. At least if those are full time incomes. I admit it is a bit different if those are two half-time incomes.... (but that is relatively rare I think).

@ForensicAccountant I don't see anything unfair about the child Benefit thing. If one partner is earning £60k the other one has a range of choices, choose to work full time, choose to work part time, choose not to work at all.

Lots of people on dual incomes do a tremendous amount of juggling to make it work. DH and I both work full time but both work long hours into the evening to enable us to alternate school runs. If just one of us worked it would be a very different lifestyle