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For married or civil partners who pay income tax, it’s important to understand the rules and how to apply for the Marriage Allowance. Married couples and those in civil partnerships could be eligible for this tax benefit
This tax benefit could save you £250 every year. Here’s what you need to know about Marriage Allowance claims and rules.
How do I qualify for Marriage Allowance?
To qualify for Marriage Allowance, you must:
- Be a married couple or in a civil partnership.
- Have one partner earn less than £12,570 (the income tax personal allowance).
- Have one partner earn between £12,571 and £50,270 (the income tax basic rate band).
The rules differ in Scotland, where the higher-earning partner must earn between £12,571 and £43,662. The lower-earning partner must earn less than £12,570.
Note: The income levels in the criteria above do not include only income from paid employment; they also include other income, such as rental income, dividend income, etc. If additional income takes you over the personal allowance, you may not be eligible to claim.
Note: If you are just living together, you won’t be eligible to claim Marriage Allowance.
Who does not qualify for the Marriage Allowance?
If a couple does not meet the qualifying criteria (married or in a civil partnership with the required income levels), they will not qualify for the Marriage Allowance.
Married Couple’s Allowance
Individuals born on or before April 6 1935, will not qualify for the Marriage Allowance. However, they may be able to claim married couple’s allowance (this also includes civil partners). The married couple’s allowance could reduce your tax bill by between £401 and £1,037.50 a year, and you can claim it through a self-assessment tax return or by contacting HMRC with details of your marriage or civil partnership.
How does Marriage Allowance work?
How the marriage allowance calculation works (2025/26 Tax Year)
The standard Personal Allowance (the amount you can earn tax-free) for the 2025/26 tax year is £12,570. As the lower earner, you’ll need to transfer 10% of your tax-free personal allowance to your partner.
- Transfer 10% of tax-free personal allowance: The lower-earning partner should transfer 10% of their unused Personal Allowance (£1,260, i.e. £12,570 x 10%). This will reduce the lower earner’s own Personal Allowance to £11,310 (£12,570 - £1,260).
- Added personal allowance for the higher-earner: If the higher-earning partner is a basic-rate (20%) taxpayer, they receive the transferred personal allowance as an increase to their own Personal Allowance. This means they can earn an extra £1,260 tax-free. This means their personal allowance will become £13,830.
- Calculate the total benefit: To calculate the amount of tax saved by the higher earner, you calculate 20% of the transferred amount (i.e. £1,260 x 20%). This equates to a saving of £252 for the tax year.
Always bear in mind that when you transfer some of your Personal Allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner, you might have to pay more tax yourself, but you could still pay less as a couple.
How can I apply for Marriage Allowance?
Marriage Allowance won’t be automatically applied, so you must make your claim for Marriage Allowance online. The lowest earner should make the claim.
To apply, you’ll need both your National Insurance numbers to hand. If you would rather not apply online, you can do so through the self-assessment system. If you use self-assessment, you should ensure that the lower earner transfers part of their personal allowance first by submitting their tax return. Then the higher earner should receive the allowance within 72 hours, after which they can submit their tax return.
Both individuals’ tax codes should change (if they both earn income).
Marriage allowance FAQs
Whether it is worth claiming Marriage Allowance will depend on your personal circumstances and if you both pay income tax, then you cannot apply.
If the lower earner earns income close to the personal allowance tax-free threshold of £12,570, and the higher earner earns slightly more than this, then claiming Marriage Allowance could actually leave you worse off.
Individuals can backdate claims to 6 April 2021 for the years they were eligible for Marriage Allowance.
Your partner may then be able to claim a rebate or will have their tax code changed to benefit from the years that you are backdating.
If your partner has died since 5 April 2021, you can still claim. However, if your partner was the lower earner, the person responsible for managing their tax affairs needs to phone.
If you get divorced, you must notify HMRC to cancel your Marriage Allowance.
You can do this online by visiting the Government website, or by calling 0300 200 3300. Note: the cancellation may be backdated to the start of the current tax year. This may mean you or your partner underpays tax for that tax year, so this may affect your future tax code or require you to be paid back to HMRC.
If your partner dies, the last year of claim will be the year in which the death occurred. For that year, if all conditions are met, Marriage Allowance will apply, but the person who gave up part of their personal allowance will have it reinstated.
Claims for Marriage Allowance are allowed where a partner has died proceeding the claim being made. These claims can be backdated by up to four years, provided other conditions are met. If your deceased spouse or civil partner was the lower earner, the person responsible for managing their tax affairs i.e. their executor or personal representative, will need to contact HMRC to make the claim.
You may want to stop claiming the allowance if your personal circumstances change, such as if your relationship changes, you get divorced or your income increases. If you don’t stop it, your Personal Allowance will continue to be automatically transferred to your partner each year until you cancel it. You can do this online or by calling HMRC.
Yes, you can claim if you are retired, as Marriage Allowance applies to all taxable income, including pensions.
Summary
Paying less tax is always a good thing, so if you’re married or in a civil partnership, you need to understand the tax rules for Marriage Allowance and if you could benefit from it. Seek professional advice to review your tax position and check your eligibility for Marriage Allowance. Doing this could reduce your tax bill.
Contact dns on 03300 886 686 or email us on [email protected].
Any questions? Schedule a call with one of our experts.
Sumit Agarwal
Sumit Agarwal (ACMA ACA India), the Managing partner of dns accountants is a highly respected accountant with expertise in helping owner-managed businesses.
Sumit Agarwal
Sumit Agarwal (ACMA ACA India), the Managing partner of dns accountants is a highly respected accountant with expertise in helping owner-managed businesses.
