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Are you eligible to apply for Marriage Allowance Transfer.

You should note that you cannot claim Marriage Allowance if you’re living together but you’re not married or in a civil partnership.

However, if you, your wife, husband or civil partner are both basic tax payers and one of you is not using your full personal tax allowance then you can transfer some of your personal allowance (up to 10%) to your partner.

This means that if one of you isn’t paying any tax because their income is below the tax allowance for the year and your wife or husband (or civil partner) is paying tax at the basic rate (20%) and you apply to transfer some of your tax allowance you will be able to receive the unused portion of their allowance against your taxable income.  If this applies to you in 2023/2024 you can backdate the claim to include any year that you were eligible since 5 April 2019.  So if you were eligible for all of the years from 2019/2020 you would receive tax relief for all four years.

If you are eligible to apply, the lowest earner must make the application.  If you are my client and you are the lower earner I can make the application for you through your self-assessment tax return.  If your partner needs to make the application, and they are not a client of mine, it can be made online, which is the quickest way to apply, however you can also apply by post.

More details about the scheme  –

Marriage Allowance Transfer allows you to transfer £1,260 of your Personal Tax Allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner.

This can reduce your tax by up to £252 in the tax year (6 April 2023 to 5 April 2024).

To benefit as a couple, you (as the lower earner) must normally have an income below your Personal Allowance – the normal allowance for 2023/2024 is £12,570.

When you transfer some of your Personal Allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner you might have to pay more tax yourself, but you could end up paying less as a couple, so still benefit from the scheme. Being in receipt of a state pension does not preclude you from applying.

You can apply for Marriage Allowance Transfer if you meet all of the following criteria:

• you’re married or in a civil partnership
• you do not pay Income Tax or your income is below your Personal Allowance (£12,570 in 2023/2024)
• your partner pays Income Tax at the basic rate, which usually means their income is between £12,571 and £50,270.

You can backdate your claim to include any tax year since 5 April 2019 that you were eligible for Marriage Allowance Transfer.

Your partner’s tax bill will be reduced depending on the Personal Allowance rate for the years you’re backdating.

 In order to make the application you need both your National Insurance Number and that of your wife, husband or civil partner.

 The quickest way to apply for Marriage Allowance is online –

https://www.gov.uk/apply-marriage-allowance

You can write to HMRC at this address –

Pay As You Earn and Self Assessment
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1AS
United Kingdom

Full information can be found on the HMRC website

Marriage Allowance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If you or your partner were born before 6 April 1935, you might benefit more as a couple by applying for Married Couple’s Allowance instead.

You cannot get Marriage Allowance and Married Couple’s Allowance at the same time.

If you have any questions I should be pleased to hear from you – call me on 07531741287 or drop me an e-mail koreen@synergyaccounting.co.uk