The short version: Marriage Allowance lets you transfer part of your Personal Allowance to your spouse or civil partner. If one of you earns under the Personal Allowance and the other is a basic rate taxpayer, you could save a few hundred pounds a year.
How does it work?
The lower earner gives up a portion of their tax free allowance (which they weren’t using anyway). The higher earner gets that added to their allowance, reducing their tax bill. The exact saving depends on current rates, so check gov.uk.
Who can claim?
You need to be married or in a civil partnership. One of you needs to earn less than the Personal Allowance. The other needs to be a basic rate taxpayer (not higher or additional rate). If the higher earner pays 40% tax, you can’t use Marriage Allowance.
How do you claim?
Apply online through HMRC. You can backdate claims for previous tax years too if you were eligible but didn’t claim. Once set up, it continues automatically each year until you cancel it.
What if circumstances change?
If the higher earner moves into the higher rate band, or you separate, you need to cancel. Otherwise you could end up owing money.
Think you might be eligible? Ask us and we’ll check if it’s worth claiming.
