
With our Tax Manager Jyoti Pandya
Thousands of taxpayers miss out on the Marriage Allowance each year, which could reduce your Income Tax bill by up to £252.
The Marriage Allowance lets you transfer £1,260 of your spouse’s or civil partner’s Personal Allowance to you to reduce the amount of tax you pay.
To benefit from this relief, your spouse or partner only needs to have an income below the Personal Allowance (currently £12,570).
This benefit is only open to basic rate taxpayers, who have a taxable annual income between £12,571 and £50,270 before they receive the Marriage Allowance.
By transferring their Personal Allowance, they might have to pay slightly more tax as a result, depending on their income, but as a couple, you will still pay less overall.
You can backdate a claim to include any tax year since 5 April 2018 that you were eligible for the allowance.
This allowance is not automatically applied and must be claimed by providing provide both individual’s National Insurance numbers as well as two documents as proof of identity to HM Revenue & Customs.
You cannot apply for Marriage Allowance if you are already in receipt of Married Couple’s Allowance, which is only available to those where at least one spouse was born before 6 April 1935.
Think you could benefit from this relief and currently aren’t claiming it? Speak to us.