Marrige and tax credits

gazzaman22

Can anyone tell me, we are married since early 2008
I earn 30000 a year
Wife earns 40000 a year

I've heard there is a married tax credit we should apply for....

And is it worth much?
Can it be backdated?

Thanks in advance

relax carry on

gazzaman22 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me, we are married since early 2008
I earn 30000 a year
Wife earns 40000 a year

I've heard there is a married tax credit we should apply for....

And is it worth much?
Can it be backdated?

Thanks in advance

There is no such thing really as the married tax credit. All it is, is the merging of both single persons tax credits.

When you opt for joint assessment you have the option of moving some credits and rate band from one person to the next, not all. This is only really beneficial in cases where one spouse is earning very little and the other is earning more.

So in a normal case with no extra credits or rate band, that's a portion or all of the €1650 personal credit which can be moved from one person to the other and up to €9000 of rate band. Check out the links for further info.

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it2.html

http://www.revenue.ie/en/personal/faqs/how-do-i-work-out-my-tax.html

In your case above, you would only benefit from moving your unused rate band to your spouse as you would have already used your credits. It can be backdated to 2008 under the 4 year look back rule.

gazzaman22

So do i need to fill out a form for each year, and
Who do i nominate as the assessable spouse? or does it matter?

Thanks again

relax carry on

gazzaman22 wrote: »

So do i need to fill out a form for each year, and
Who do i nominate as the assessable spouse? or does it matter?

Thanks again

You fill out the joint assessment form once and submit to Revenue. They will re-review every year back to 2008. You will remain jointly assessed until you indicate otherwise. It's up to you who you nominate as the assessable spouse. Normally its the higher earner.

gazzaman22

Do i need to send p60's or the likes?

Cheers

kennyb3

gazzaman22 wrote: »

Do i need to send p60's or the likes?

Cheers

No when your and your wife's employers file their P35 they have all your P60 details already.

You should:

a) Ring your local tax office - there is a contact locator you can use on the bottom right of Revenue.ie - put your PPS # in.

b) Advise them of your date of marriage, your wife's name and date of birth.

c) Request amended P21's for the years you were married

c) Register for PAYE anytime if you havent already, and manage your credits going forward via this.

relax carry on

gazzaman22 wrote: »

Do i need to send p60's or the likes?

Cheers

As Kenny says, your pay and tax details should already be on file for 2008 to 2011. However your claim for joint assessment must be in writing using the joint assessment form as PAYE staff should not accept marriage details over the phone. Once you are set up as joint assessed, then they can take instructions from either spouse over the phone or in writing.

And as Kenny says, get onto your PAYE Anytime account to manage your own tax affairs whenever you wish.

gazzaman22

Cheersd guys, Yeah i was reading that on the website that you can manage them on paye, But it wasn't set up on my paye anytime, so i guess they need to edit via written instruction, and when thats done i'll have the oppertunity to work at it online...Thanks guys...gonna get this form in the post asap! I owe's yous a pint!

dub_ie

gazzaman22,

Sorry for dragging up a very old post but I see you seem to be a regular on Boards.ie so figured worth a shot. I am in a similar situation to you and never notified revenue when i got married in 2011 as I didn't realise there were tax benefits for being taxed using joint assessment. Did Revenue give you any hassle when you asked for the joint assessment to be backdated to previous years? And am I best off calling them first or emailing them to ask for this in writing? Thanks

mozattack

Sorry, missing something here but looking for a review is pointless as there will be no benefit.

Married tax credit is just single credit x 2.

Neither married person has scope to transfer excess SRCOP so all a bit futile.

dub_ie

I don't think my wife would have used all of her standard rate band last year (and likely won't this year either) so I figure we may be better off with joint assessment as I am on the higher band and so could benefit from the extra unused portion of her standard rate band. Is this not correct? Revenue seem to give an example on their form IT2 showing how this can benefit people in this type of situation. I'm just unclear whether they will allow it to be backdated.

mo11y

You are correct, as a married couple you can share a certain proportion of your credits and cut off, if one person is not using all of their cut off and the other person has exceeded theirs then transferring the unused cut off would benefit the higher earner without affecting the lower earners tax bill. Revenue will look back 4 years max.

dub_ie

Thanks. Will contact revenue next week so.

allthedoyles

dub_ie wrote: »

gazzaman22,

Sorry for dragging up a very old post but I see you seem to be a regular on Boards.ie so figured worth a shot. I am in a similar situation to you and never notified revenue when i got married in 2011 as I didn't realise there were tax benefits for being taxed using joint assessment. Did Revenue give you any hassle when you asked for the joint assessment to be backdated to previous years? And am I best off calling them first or emailing them to ask for this in writing? Thanks

Its not really worthwhile calling or emailing Revenue .

Simply apply for balancing statements for 2011 - 2012 - 2013 , because you will always receive whichever is most beneficial , whether that is single assessment , joint assessment or separate assessment.

Just remember to claim maximum tax credits that apply to your personal circumstances .

See the list at www.revenue.ie

Then for 2014 , you can decide to leave things as they are , or allocate tax credits as per other posters below .

dub_ie

But I have never notified them of my marriage so surely I need to do that before requesting balancing statements?

allthedoyles

dub_ie wrote: »

But I have never notified them of my marriage so surely I need to do that before requesting balancing statements?

Obviously they will need to know you married .

But you can do all of this at the same time .

It is not necessary to let them know in advance of a request for P21.

But of course it all depends on the application method you will use .

nlgbbbblth

A couple of years ago I requesting balancing statements over the phone, sent them a letter requesting that I be jointly assessed and asked them to backdate as far back as they could. Got a decent-sized cheque a few weeks later.