HMRC is urging married couples/civil partners to check whether they are entitled to claim the marriage allowance. What is it, are you eligible and how do you claim it? 

HMRC has a special message to couples – “give the gift of the marriage allowance this Valentine’s Day”. The marriage allowance is not as generous as it sounds. It isn’t actually an additional allowance, but merely the transfer of £1,260 of unused personal allowance from one partner to the other.  It isn’t available to all married couples. In order to benefit, one spouse must have income below the personal allowance so there is an unused amount to transfer to their partner. The other partner can’t benefit if they are a higher or additional rate taxpayer, which means if they have income in excess of £50,270 (or just £43,662 for Scottish taxpayers), the allowance can’t be claimed.

Despite this, it’s well worth checking if you are eligible, especially as the claim can be backdated by up to four years, which could mean a rebate of over £1,000. Use HMRC’s tool to check if you can make a claim.