What is Marriage Allowance?
Marriage Allowance lets a lower-earning spouse or civil partner transfer 10% of their personal allowance, £1,260 in 2025-26, to a basic-rate-taxpaying spouse. The receiving partner gets a tax code adjustment that saves them up to £252 a year on income tax.
It is not extra money paid by HMRC. It is a re-allocation of unused tax-free income between two people who file as a couple, where one is not using all of their own personal allowance.
HMRC estimates that around 2.1 million eligible UK couples claim Marriage Allowance, but an estimated 1 million more qualify and have not claimed.
Am I eligible for Marriage Allowance?
You can claim if all of the following are true:
- You are married or in a registered civil partnership (not just cohabiting)
- One of you earns less than the personal allowance (£12,570 in 2025-26), or earns nothing
- The other earns between £12,571 and £50,270 (the basic-rate income tax band)
- You were both born on or after 6 April 1935
If both of you earn over £12,570, neither of you can claim. If the higher earner pays tax at the higher rate (over £50,270 in 2025-26 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland), you also cannot claim because the relief only applies to basic-rate tax.
Scotland has different income tax bands. In Scotland, the receiving partner must pay tax at the starter, basic, or intermediate rate (broadly, taxable income up to £43,662 in 2025-26).
How much could I save?
In 2025-26, Marriage Allowance reduces the receiving partner's tax bill by £252 (20% of £1,260). You can also claim for the previous 4 tax years if you were eligible then.
| Tax year | Annual saving |
|---|---|
| 2025-26 (current) | £252 |
| 2024-25 | £252 |
| 2023-24 | £252 |
| 2022-23 | £252 |
| 2021-22 | £252 |
A couple claiming for the current year plus all 4 backdated years gets £1,260 in total, usually as a tax-code adjustment for the current year and a direct refund for the backdated years.
How to claim Marriage Allowance
The lower earner makes the claim, not the higher earner. You will need:
- Both partners' National Insurance numbers
- One form of ID for the lower earner (passport, P60, payslip, or self-assessment details)
- A Government Gateway account (sign up for one if you don't already have it)
The application is straightforward:
- Go to gov.uk/marriage-allowance and click "Apply now"
- Sign in with your Government Gateway user ID
- Enter your partner's National Insurance number and date of birth
- Confirm the years you want to backdate (if any)
- Submit
HMRC usually processes the claim within 4 to 6 weeks. The higher earner's tax code changes to reflect the transferred allowance (typically suffix "M" instead of "L"), and any backdated refund is paid by cheque or BACS to the lower earner.
When Marriage Allowance stops automatically
HMRC will end the transfer if any of the following happens:
- You divorce, separate, or end the civil partnership
- One of you dies (handled separately, the surviving partner may still benefit for the year of death)
- The lower earner starts earning above the personal allowance
- The higher earner starts paying higher-rate tax
You don't have to do anything if your circumstances change in a way that ends the transfer; HMRC adjusts both tax codes automatically based on your reported income.
You can also cancel Marriage Allowance manually through your personal tax account. The change usually takes effect from the start of the next tax year.
Marriage Allowance vs Married Couple's Allowance
These two reliefs are often confused but they are completely different:
| Marriage Allowance | Married Couple's Allowance | |
|---|---|---|
| Eligibility | One spouse under personal allowance, other is basic-rate | At least one spouse born before 6 April 1935 |
| 2025-26 saving | £252 | £419 to £1,108 depending on income |
| How it works | Transfer 10% of personal allowance | Reduces tax bill at 10% of allowance value |
| Backdating | Up to 4 previous years | From date of marriage (with limits) |
You can claim either Marriage Allowance or Married Couple's Allowance, never both at the same time. For most couples born after 1935, Marriage Allowance is the only option.
Common mistakes when claiming
Wrong partner applies. The lower earner must initiate the claim, not the higher-earning partner who actually receives the tax saving. HMRC's online form will reject a claim from the wrong account.
Missing the backdating window. You can only claim 4 years back. As of 2025-26 the earliest claimable year is 2021-22. If you have been eligible since before that, the older years are lost.
Claiming when income fluctuates. If the lower earner has variable income (freelance, seasonal), their annual total may push above the personal allowance, which cancels the transfer for that year. Watch this for the year of any pay rise, redundancy payout, or pension drawdown.
Not cancelling after a change. Although HMRC ends the transfer automatically based on reported income, the timing can lag by months. If you know your circumstances have changed (divorce, redundancy, pension), cancel manually to avoid an unexpected tax bill at year-end.
Using a paid third-party claim service
Several private companies advertise that they will claim Marriage Allowance for you in exchange for a percentage of any refund. These services are usually not necessary. The gov.uk claim takes about 10 minutes, costs nothing, and gets you the full refund directly.
If you have already used a paid service and want to claim future years yourself, log in to your personal tax account, end the current Marriage Allowance arrangement, and re-apply directly through gov.uk for the next tax year.