1.8m couples benefit from extra tax relief

HMRC has confirmed that almost 1.8m couples across the UK have benefitted from the marriage allowance and are saving up to £252 a year. The marriage allowance is available to qualifying married couples and those in a civil partnership where a spouse or civil partner is a non-taxpayer i.e., has an income below their personal allowance (currently £12,570).

The marriage allowance allows the lower earning partner to transfer up to £1,260 of their personal tax-free allowance to their spouse or civil partner. The allowance can only be used when the recipient of the transfer (the higher earning partner) doesn’t pay more than the basic 20% rate of Income Tax. This would usually mean that their income is between £12,570 to £50,270 in 2021-22. The limits are slightly different if you live in Scotland.

If you are entitled to the marriage allowance and have not yet applied you could receive a payment of up to £1,220 from HMRC. HMRC is using the summer wedding season to remind couples to make a claim. It is estimated that whilst almost 1.8m couples have already claimed the Marriage Allowance, there are still in the region of 2 million eligible couples that have not made a claim.

If you meet the eligibility requirements and have not yet claimed the allowance you can backdate your claim to 6 April 2017. This could result in a total tax break of up to £1,220 for 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 as well as the current 2021-22 tax year.