In 2015-16 a new allowance was made available to married couples....did you hear about it?

The marriage allowance allows one spouse to transfer an element of their unused personal allowance to the other. For 2018-19 the maximum element which can be transferred is £1,190. Previous years were slightly lower but very similar.

What’s the purpose of this allowance?

If one spouse is earning above the tax free allowance and the other isn’t, perhaps only working part time or not at all, it increases the tax free allowance of the higher earning spouse with the saving being 20% of the transferred amount. For 2018-19 the tax saving is £238.

How do you get the allowance?

The claim has to be made by the spouse with the unused allowance. This can be done online or by phoning HM Revenue & Customs. It can be backdated if the qualifying criteria were met in previous years and a claim was not made. The claim will remain in force until you withdraw it.

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