Hi all this may be a silly question but here goes, is it possible to claim a qualified adult allowance for my wife even though she will qualify for a partial contributary
pension in her own right ?
As far as I am aware you can choose whatever best suits, if you reach pension age before your wife you can claim the qualified adult allowance and then when she reaches pension age she can claim her contributory pension in her own right and you give up the qualified adult allowance or If the qualified adult allowance is worth more than the pension she is entitled to then you can keep the qualified adult allowance but I don't know if there can be a mix of the two. The answer might be on the DSP website www.welfare.ie though.
If she is under 66 you should apply for the Qualified Adult for her and when she reaches 66 she could apply for her own pension in her own right. SW will then advise her as to which is the best financially. If the difference is very slight you should then look at it from a tax point of view.
If she has a pension in her own right SHE will be allowed a PAYE tax credit.
If she is your Qualified Adult the full amount received by both of will be taxable to you (No PAYE tax credit for her)
Hi all this may be a silly question but here goes, is it possible to claim a qualified adult allowance for my wife even though she will qualify for a partial contributory
pension in her own right ?
On what basis are you proposing claiming the QAA? Does it not depend on you and when folk reach 66 does the benefit claim not convert to the state pension and the QAA is replaced by the appropriate pension?
On the basis that firstly she is his wife and secondly appears to be his dependant as she will only be entitled to a part pension.
Perhaps she was a homemaker for many years and therefore did not have the opportunity to make the full amount of PRSI contributions necessary for a FULL rate of pension
Thanks for all reply's, I ask because my wife is 3 yrs older than me and she will claim her pension before me. She was a homemaker and also has a part state pension entitlement from England, am I right in thinking that with both state entitlements she will probably fail the means test for dependant adult.
As she will be entitled to her pension 3 years ahead of you she should apply for her part Irish pension plus her part UK pension. UK pension for women is payable at age 60 (if she was born before 1950) and Irish at age 66.
If the combined total of both pensions is less than €206.30 you could apply for the qualified adult payment for her when you apply for your pension and her own Irish pension will be dropped and replaced with your QAA