Marriage Allowance lets one partner transfer £1,260 of their personal allowance to the other, saving up to £252 per year in income tax. You can backdate claims by four years, potentially getting up to £1,260 back in one go.
To be eligible, one partner must earn less than £12,570 (or not use all their personal allowance), and the other partner must be a basic rate taxpayer (earning between £12,571 and £50,270). Both must be married or in a civil partnership.
You cannot claim Marriage Allowance if either partner pays higher rate (40%) or additional rate (45%) tax. The benefit only works when transferring to a basic rate taxpayer.
The lower earning partner makes the claim. Go to GOV.UK and search for Marriage Allowance. You need your National Insurance number and your partner's National Insurance number. The process takes about 10 minutes online.
The saving is always £252 per year (£1,260 transferred x 20% basic rate). If you backdate for four years, you receive the full backdated amount as a lump sum payment, and ongoing years are adjusted through your tax code.
Common situations where Marriage Allowance applies include one partner staying home to look after children, one partner working part-time, one partner being a student, one partner earning below the personal allowance due to low working hours, and retired couples where one has a small pension.
It is worth noting that Marriage Allowance reduces the transferring partner's personal allowance to £11,310. If their income later increases above this amount, they would start paying tax. In that case, you can cancel the transfer.
For couples where both partners earn above £12,570, Marriage Allowance does not apply. There is no general married couple's tax advantage in this situation.
Use our take-home pay calculator to check your tax at different income levels.