What is it? The Marriage Allowance lets you transfer £1,150 of your Personal Allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner if they earn more than you,
This reduces their tax by up to £230 in the tax year.
To benefit as a couple, you (as the lower earner) must have an income of £11,500 or less.
You can backdate your claim to include any tax year since 5 April 2015 that you were eligible for Marriage Allowance.
Who can get it? This is the most important factor as only people with these specific circumstances will be able to apply:
- You’re married or in a civil partnership.
- One of you needs to be a non-taxpayer, which usually just means earning less than the £11,500 personal allowance.
- The other needs to be a basic 20% rate taxpayer (higher or additional-rate taxpayers aren’t eligible for this allowance). This means you’d normally need to earn less than £45,000.
- You both must have been born on or after 6 April 1935. If not, you may be eligible for Married Couple’s Allowance.
- New. A rule that came into effect from Wednesday 29 November 2017 allows you to claim even if your partner has died since April 2015 and all the other criteria above apply.
It won’t affect your application for Marriage Allowance if you or your partner are currently receiving a pension or living abroad.
In most cases, the allowance will be given by adjusting the recipient partner’s personal tax code. The partner who transferred their personal allowance will also receive a new tax code, if employed. If the recipient partner is in self-assessment, it will reduce their self-assessment bill.
Already applied in the last tax year? You’ll automatically get the marriage tax allowance this year and only need to inform HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) if your circumstances have changed making you no longer eligible.
For further information on this or if you wish us to apply on your behalf, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01366 858538 or email info@jetaccountancy,co.uk.