It’s useful to know how Marriage and Married Couple’s Allowances work. They’re usually increased each year. Increases typically apply from the start of the tax year (6 April).
Marriage Allowance
If you’re married or in a civil partnership, one of you can transfer up to £1,260 of your Personal Allowance to the other.
This is just over 10% of the basic £12,570 Personal Allowance for the 2021-22 tax year. (Basic Personal Allowance is the amount of income you don’t have to pay tax on.)
Find out more about Personal Allowance on the GOV.UK website
This transferral reduces a partner’s tax by up to £252 in the tax year (6 April to 5 April the next year).
Marriage Allowance is sometimes referred to as the Marriage Tax Allowance.
You might qualify for Marriage Allowance if:
- you’re married or in a civil partnership, and don’t get Married Couple’s Allowance
- one of you earns less than the Personal Allowance – so, not liable to tax or tax at the higher or additional rates. The other partner must be a basic rate taxpayer with an income between £12,571 and £50,270.
Marriage Allowance means the partner who earns more will get £1,260 added to their basic Personal Allowance.
Of the amount of money transferred to a partner as part of Marriage Allowance – 20% is given as a reduction in their tax bill. This is different from Personal Allowance – which is deducted from taxable income before tax is worked out.
Here’s an example – although this won't apply if you're in Scotland as the income tax bands there are different.
If you earn £30,000 a year, you’re a basic rate taxpayer. If your partner earns £8,000 a year, they’re a non-taxpayer. This means your household could be £252 better off:
| - | Without Marriage Allowance | Including Marriage Allowance |
|---|---|---|
|
Income |
£30,000 |
£30,000 |
|
Personal Allowance |
£12,570 |
£13,830 |
|
Income Tax |
£3,486 |
£3,234 |
|
Tax saving |
£0 |
£252 |
| - | Without Marriage Allowance | Including Marriage Allowance |
|---|---|---|
|
Income |
£8,000 |
£8,000 |
|
Personal Allowance |
£12,570 |
£11,310 |
|
Income Tax |
£0 |
£0 |
|
Tax saving |
£0 |
£0 |
In this example, when the non-taxpayer earns over £11,310 – Marriage Allowance is of less benefit. This is because the non-taxpayer would pay tax on income over £11,310 rather than £12,570 (the basic Personal Allowance amount.
The tax code of the partner receiving the Marriage Allowance will usually change to ‘M’.
This shows they’re getting Marriage Allowance from their partner.
If the partner who transferred their Personal Allowance is employed, their tax code will change to ‘N’. This shows they’ve elected to use the Marriage Allowance.
How to apply for Marriage Allowance
You can apply online to HMRC on the GOV.UK website All you need are your National Insurance numbers and identification.
You can also apply by calling 0300 200 3300.*
*Lines are open Monday to Friday: 8am to 6pm, There may be call charges. See GOV.UK for details
Claiming Marriage Allowance for previous years
You need to meet the criteria for each year you apply for.
Keep in mind that the threshold for non-taxpayers and basic rate taxpayers is different according to the tax year you’re claiming for.
You can backdate your claim for up to four years.
This could be worth up to £1,220, including the £252 saving for the current tax year.
You can apply online to HMRC on the GOV.UK website
Claiming Marriage Allowance if your partner has died
If your partner died after 2016, and you meet the other criteria for Marriage Allowance – you can still apply for the benefit.
You’ll be applying for a backdate of the benefit. So you’ll get the benefit as if you had applied for it from April 2016.
This will be worth up to £1,188. But you’ll only get payments for the years both of you were alive.
To apply for Marriage Allowance if you partner has died, call 0300 200 3300.*
*Lines are open Monday to Friday: 8am to 6pm. There may be call charges. See GOV.UK for details
Married Couple’s Allowance
Where one or both partners were born before 6 April 1935 might be able to claim a more generous allowance, called Married Couple’s Allowance.
For marriages before 5 December 2005, the husband’s income is used to work out Married Couple’s Allowance. Although it can be transferred to the wife.
For marriage and civil partnerships after this date, it’s the income of the highest earner.
Tax relief for the Married Couple’s Allowance is 10%. This means that the higher earning partner gets 10% of the tax they pay.
The benefit has upper and lower limits for both the amount of tax that can be claimed and how much that can be earned.
For the 2021-22 tax year, this could cut your tax bill between £353 and £912.50 a year.
