From 6 April 2015 married couples (and civil partners) will be able to register for the MA.
If your income is less than £10,600 in the 2015 to 2016 tax year, you may be able to reduce your husband, wife or civil partner’s tax by up to £212.
The new Marriage Allowance will let you transfer some of your Personal Allowance to your partner. This is the amount of income people can get before paying tax.
Who will be eligible?
You’ll be able to claim Marriage Allowance if all the following apply:
- you’re married or in a civil partnership
- you have an annual income of less than £10,600 – including pensions, savings and investments
- your spouse or civil partner has an annual income of between £10,601 and £42,385
- you were both born on or after 6 April 1935
If you or your partner were born before 6 April 1935, you may be able to claim Married Couple’s Allowance instead.
If both partners are paying tax at the 20% rate their personal allowance will be fully utilised against their own income and there will be no advantage making an MA claim.
The allowance will only benefit partnerships where one spouse has income below the tax personal allowance, presently £10,600 for 2015-16, and the other partner/spouse does not pay income tax at the 40% rate.