There are three basis of assessment for those married couples. Joint assessment, separate assessment and separate treatment. What have you opted for when you contacted Revenue? If you opted for separate treatment then you are buggered as basis of assessment can only be altered going forward. If you opted for separate assessment then that's pretty much the same as joint assessment but is more work.Hi all, would appreciate if someone could offer some insight into the following;
- Married in 2016
- Updated civil status with Revenue Jan 2024
- Remained “single assessed” as wasn’t sure what changing to “jointly assessed” would mean
Can I change my assessment type to “joint” on Revenue now? Can’t see an option for this, other than my civil status is “married” with a single personal tax credit.
Secondly, my wife has been off a lot over the past 5 years (maternity leaves). There’s definitely years where she wouldn’t have used even the 20% threshold, whereas I was paying tax at the higher rate. Is it possible to retrospectively apply “joint assessment” or a way of applying the balance of her unused 20% against the higher rate I paid?!
Thank you in advance.
Too late I'm afraid for the prior years. When you provided your date of marriage and advised you wanted separate treatment that would have been applied to those years already. It's also too late to alter 2024. You can only opt to change to Joint assessment for 2025 onwards.Hi, many thanks for your reply. We opted for seperate treatment when we updated our civil status in January this year (unfortunately, it seems). For the years prior, although we were married, we were noted as “single”. As we were recorded as single for the years 2016 to January 2024, do you know if we can now select joint assessment for those years? And for the year 2024, is it possible at this point to update to be jointly assessed?
Thank you
Hi all, I contacted Revenue this morning and the tax treatment opted for in January 2024 when our status was updated was “Married, Seperately Assessed” - which is different to Married, Seperate Treatment”. The lady I spoke to didn’t seem to think it was impossible to retrospectively review the last four years and where possible, give me the benefit of my wife’s unused tax band. The details have been sent to them so it remains to be seen what comes back.There are three basis of assessment for those married couples. Joint assessment, separate assessment and separate treatment. What have you opted for when you contacted Revenue? If you opted for separate treatment then you are buggered as basis of assessment can only be altered going forward. If you opted for separate assessment then that's pretty much the same as joint assessment but is more work.
Too late I'm afraid for the prior years. When you provided your date of marriage and advised you wanted separate treatment that would have been applied to those years already. It's also too late to alter 2024. You can only opt to change to Joint assessment for 2025 onwards.
You can of course ask Revenue if they will alter it for the prior years but retrospective altering of basis of assessment should not be possible.
@relax carry on thank you in particular for highlighting separate assessed/separate treatment…it prompted me to double check which was selected. I just took it that we were treated as single individuals based on the use of “seperate”There are three basis of assessment for those married couples. Joint assessment, separate assessment and separate treatment. What have you opted for when you contacted Revenue? If you opted for separate treatment then you are buggered as basis of assessment can only be altered going forward. If you opted for separate assessment then that's pretty much the same as joint assessment but is more work.
No bother. Glad you hadn't selected separate treatment and were able to obtain the benefits of separate assessment. It's essentially the same outcome as joint assessment just more of an administrative pain and doesn't allow active tax year flexibility.@relax carry on thank you in particular for highlighting separate assessed/separate treatment…it prompted me to double check which was selected. I just took it that we were treated as single individuals based on the use of “seperate”
I would recheck that.The lady I spoke to didn’t seem to think it was impossible to retrospectively review the last four years and where possible, give me the benefit of my wife’s unused tax band.
I’m not saying that anything will be approved, simply just that the lady I spoke to today asked me to put all the details in writing and, taking account of my own circumstances, they would review the previous years. That’s all I can ask for, I guess.I would recheck that.
You only advised Revenue of your marriage in 2024.
Separate Assessment cannot be backdated. See link I posted above & select Separate Assessment, which states:
"When you request separate assessment, it cannot be backdated and it lasts until you request to change it. The spouse or civil partner who made the request must also be the one to withdraw it".
Would be incredible if it was that straight forward…I’ll certainly look into it! Thanks very much.Can you not just amend your tax return for the previous four years to tick the joint assessment box which should then trigger refunds which can be paid because it’s inside the four years?
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