Marriage allowance is a tax benefit that allows you to transfer some of your personal allowance to your spouse or civil partner if they earn more than you. Your personal allowance is the amount of income you can earn tax-free each tax year. By transferring some of your personal allowance, you can reduce your partner’s tax bill by up to £252 per year.
To be eligible for marriage allowance, you must meet the following criteria:
• You are married or in a civil partnership
• You do not pay income tax or your income is below your personal allowance (usually £12,570)
• Your partner pays income tax at the basic rate, which usually means their income is between £12,571 and £50,270 (or between £12,571 and £43,662 in Scotland)
You can apply for marriage allowance online for free on the GOV.UK website https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance. You will need your National Insurance number and your partner’s National Insurance number.
You can also backdate your claim to include any tax year since 5 April 2019 that you were eligible for marriage allowance- this means there’s potentially £1,000 sitting there for you!
