Tax Advice for Blind and Partially Sighted People

Tax advice for blind and partially sighted people

This factsheet explains what tax allowances you are entitled to and where to get help with your tax. The figures quoted apply between 6 April 2018 and 5 April 2019.

Personal Allowance

Your Personal Allowance is the amount of income you can earn before you start paying income tax. The standard Personal Allowance is £11,850. The most common tax code for this year will be 1185L.

You pay 20% tax on income up to £46,350, 40% tax on income over £46,350 and 45% tax on income over £150,000.If you live in Scotland, new income tax rates and bands came into effect from 6 April 2018, please visit gov.uk/scottish-rate-income-taxfor more information.

Blind Person's Allowance

If you’re registered as blind or severely sight impaired you can claim the Blind Person’s Allowance. This increases your PersonalAllowance by £2,390, which is worth up to £478.Claims can be backdated by up to 4 years, so if you were registered blind or severely sight impaired in 2014-15 you could benefit by up to £2,304.

You can transfer your Blind Person’s Allowance to your spouse or civil partner if you don’t pay tax or can’t use all of it using form 575.

For information and for helpwith claiming,call RNIB’sTax Advice team on0345 330 4897.

For further information on Blind Person’s Allowance, please visit gov.uk/blind-persons-allowance.

Marriage Allowance

The Marriage Allowance lets you transfer £1,190 of your Personal Allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner ifyou both meet certain conditions. This could save you up to £238 in tax as a couple. Claims can be backdated to 2015-16 when Marriage Allowance was introduced, so a couple could benefit by up to £900.

You can apply if you meet all the following conditions:

you’re married or in a civil partnership
your annual income is £11,850 or less
your partner pays tax at the basic rate
you and your partner were born on or after 6 April 1935

You can claim online at gov.uk/marriage-allowance. For information on how to claimplease call RNIB’s Tax Advice Team on0345 330 4897.

Married Couple's Allowance

If you or your partner were born before 6 April 1935, you may be able to claim Married Couple’s Allowance instead. This could reduce your tax bill by between £336 and £869.50 a year. You can transfer the allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner.

For more information please visitgov.uk/married-couples-allowance.

National Insurance after State Pension age

You don’t pay National Insurance contributions after you reach State Pension age unless you’re self-employed. If you continue working, show your employer proof of your age, such as a birth certificate or passport, to make sure you stop paying National Insurance or write to HMRC.

Tax on Savingsand Dividends

Savings

Over recent years there have been changes in how income from savings and dividends are taxed. Since April 2016, tax is no longer deducted at source by your bank or building society.There is a 0% Starting Rate band for Savings Income of £5,000. There is a Personal Savings Allowance of £1,000 for basic rate taxpayers and £500 for higher rate taxpayers.

In practice this means you disregard the first £1,000 or £500 of interest (the Personal Savings Allowance); then you apply the Starting Rate banding. So for 2018-19 you could have £17,850 of tax free income, which is £11,850 Personal Allowance, £5,000 0% Starting Rate and £1,000 Personal Savings Allowance. This only applies to someone with Savings Income (interest from saving) of more than £6,000, and other income such as pension or wages, of less than £11,850.

If your savings income exceeds your Personal Savings Allowance, HMRC will collect any tax you have to pay automatically through a change to your tax code. Those who fill in a self-assessment tax return should continue to do this.

For more information visitgov.uk/apply-tax-free-interest-on-savings.

Dividends

You may get a dividend payment if you own shares in a company.You only have to pay tax if your dividends go above your dividend allowance in the tax year. There is a £2,000 Dividend Allowance (this was £5,000 in 2016/17 and 2017/18). Dividends over £2,000 are taxed as follows:

Basic Rate: 7.5%
Higher Rate: 32.5%
Additional Rate: 38.1%.

For more information visitgov.uk/tax-on-dividends.

Buy specialist products without paying VAT

You can buy certain products specifically designed for disabled people without paying VAT on them. VAT relief may be available if you’re having building work done in your home because of your disability. For more information pleasecall HMRC on 0300 123 1073 or visitgov.uk/financial-help-disabled/vat-relief.

Further information

RNIB Tax Advice Service

Telephone: 0345 330 4897

Email:

Website: rnib.org.uk/tax

Open Monday to Friday, 8.45am to 5pm.

HMRC telephone numbers

Income Tax and Savings helpline: 0300 200 3300
Self Assessment helpline: 0300 200 3310
National Insurance helpline: 0300 200 3500
Tax Credits helpline: 0345 300 3900
VAT relief for disabled people: 0300 123 1073

Make sure you have your National Insurance number to hand.

Open Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm, Saturday8am to 4pm, and Sunday 9am to 5pm.

Website:gov.uk/hmrc

HMRC Personal Tax Account - manage your tax online

Website:gov.uk/personal-tax-account

Tax Help for Older People

Provide free, independent and expert help and advice for those aged 60 or over on lower incomes.

Telephone: 01308 488 066

Website: taxvol.org.uk

TaxAid

Provide free independent tax advice to people on lower incomes.

Telephone: 0345 120 3779

Open Monday to Friday,10am to 12pm

Website: taxaid.org.uk

This factsheet gives general guidance only and is not an authoritative statement of the law. All figures refer to the tax year 2018- 2019.

RNIB Tax Advice Service

Last updated April 2018