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Two million couples still missing out on Marriage Allowance


Newsletter issue - February 2018.

Recent government statistics indicate that out of four million eligible couples, around half are still not benefiting from the income tax Marriage Allowance (MA). The allowance was first introduced in April 2015, which means that a backdated claim made in 2017/18 could be worth up to £662. It's worth checking to make sure claims are made, where appropriate.

In brief, Marriage Allowance is a way for couples to transfer a proportion of their individual Personal Allowance between them in a tax-efficient manner. Where a couple satisfies the following criteria, it should be possible to claim the allowance:

For 2017/18, the maximum amount that can be transferred from one partner to the other is £1,150, which means that the spouse or civil partner receiving the transferred allowance will be entitled to a reduced income tax liability of up to £230 for 2017/18 (£1,150 @ 20%).

Backdated claims

For 2015/16 Marriage Allowance was worth £212, and for 2016/17, the allowance was raised to £1,100, making it worth £220. Backdated claims are possible - a claim for all three years from 2015/16 to 2017/18 inclusive will therefore be worth up to £662.

The allowance is set to rise to £1,185 on 6 April 2018, so it will be worth a further £237 in 2018/19.

As announced in the 2017 Autumn Statement (applicable from 29 November 2017), it is possible to claim Marriage Allowance even where one partner has died since April 2015, providing all the eligibility criteria outlined above is satisfied.

In most cases, the allowance will be given by adjusting the recipient partner's personal tax code and the allowance will be received via the PAYE system. The partner who transferred their personal allowance will also receive a new, reduced, tax code, which will be operated against their employment income where applicable. If the recipient partner is self-employed, the allowance can be claimed via the self-assessment tax return and the allowance will be given as a reduction against their self-assessment tax liability.

 

 

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