Marriage Allowance — Cut Your Tax by up to £252/Year (+ Backdate ~£1,000)

Overview

If you're married or in a civil partnership and one of you earns under the £12,570 Personal Allowance while the other is a basic-rate taxpayer, you can transfer £1,260 of unused allowance and cut your tax bill by up to £252 a year. You can also backdate up to 4 tax years for a one-off payment of around £1,000. It's completely free, run by HMRC, and takes about 5 minutes online.

How to Claim

1. Click the link on this page to open the official GOV.UK Marriage Allowance application.
2. The non-taxpaying partner applies — you'll need both partners' National Insurance numbers and a way to confirm your identity (e.g. passport or payslip details).
3. Choose to backdate to any of the previous 4 tax years you were eligible.
4. HMRC adjusts both tax codes; the ongoing saving then applies automatically each year until you cancel.

Requirements

• Married or in a civil partnership.
• One partner is a non-taxpayer (income £12,570 or less).
• The other partner is a basic-rate taxpayer (income £12,571–£50,270 in England, Wales & NI, or up to £43,662 in Scotland).
• Only the lower earner can transfer the allowance.

How to Check If You Qualify

Not sure whether you're a basic-rate or higher-rate taxpayer — especially if your pay varies with commission, bonuses or contract work? You can check for free in a few minutes:

1. Sign in to your HMRC Personal Tax Account at gov.uk/personal-tax-account.
2. Open "Check your Income Tax" (PAYE) — it shows your total taxable income and the tax you paid.
3. Use the Income Tax history to see the last 5 tax years at once — handy for working out which years you can backdate.
4. For each tax year, look at your total taxable income: under £50,270 (England, Wales & NI) means you were a basic-rate taxpayer that year and eligible; over £50,270 means you were higher-rate and not eligible for that year.
5. Claim the years you were under the threshold (and within the last 4 tax years), and simply skip any year you went over.

Your P60 (issued every April) shows the same total-pay figure if you'd rather check on paper. If you're a Scottish taxpayer the bands differ — you're eligible as long as you pay the starter, basic or intermediate rate.

Important Terms

• Worth up to £252 for the 2026/27 tax year; you can also backdate to 6 April 2022 (the 2022/23 tax year) for ~£1,000 in total.
• Once claimed it renews automatically each year — no need to reapply.
• Cancel if circumstances change (e.g. the lower earner starts paying tax).
• If the higher earner is a higher-rate (40%) taxpayer, you are not eligible — and HMRC can reclaim the money if you claim for a year you were actually higher-rate, so check first.

Tips

• Apply directly on GOV.UK — never use an agency that charges a fee to claim what's free.
• Backdate as far as you're eligible for the biggest one-off payout.
• Paying into a pension can lower the income that counts — if you're just over £50,270, pension contributions may bring you back into the basic-rate band and make you eligible.
• It's one of the easiest "free money" wins if you qualify — five minutes for £252+ a year.