Over 2 million eligible couples have not claimed marriage allowance — a free tax break worth up to £252 per year or £1,260 backdated. Here is how to check your eligibility and claim.
Marriage allowance lets one partner transfer £1,260 of their personal allowance (the amount you can earn tax-free) to their spouse or civil partner. The receiving partner then pays less income tax — saving up to £252 per year.
It was introduced in April 2015 and is available to married couples and civil partners. Unmarried couples living together cannot claim, regardless of how long they have been together.
Despite being available for over a decade, HMRC estimates that around 2.4 million eligible couples still have not claimed. If that includes you, you could be owed over £1,000 in backdated claims.
To claim marriage allowance, you need to meet all of these conditions:
The transferring partner (the one giving up allowance) must earn less than the personal allowance — currently £12,570 per year. This includes partners who do not work, earn a small part-time income, or have income covered entirely by their personal allowance.
The receiving partner must be a basic-rate taxpayer — earning between £12,571 and £50,270 (or £43,662 in Scotland). If the receiving partner pays higher-rate (40%) or additional-rate (45%) tax, you cannot claim.
You must be married or in a civil partnership. Cohabiting couples are not eligible.
If the receiving partner earns just over the basic-rate threshold, check carefully — pension contributions, Gift Aid donations, or salary sacrifice could bring their taxable income below £50,270 and make them eligible.
Quick eligibility check:
1. Are you married or in a civil partnership? → Must be yes 2. Does one partner earn under £12,570? → Must be yes 3. Does the other partner earn £12,571–£50,270? → Must be yes
All three? You are eligible. Use our marriage allowance calculator to confirm.
The transferring partner gives up £1,260 of their personal allowance. Their allowance drops from £12,570 to £11,310. Since they earn less than the personal allowance anyway, this costs them nothing.
The receiving partner gains £1,260 of extra allowance. Their allowance increases from £12,570 to £13,830. This £1,260 is now tax-free instead of being taxed at 20%, saving exactly £252 per year.
The saving is always £252 (or less if the receiving partner earns less than £13,830). It does not scale with income — a couple where one partner earns £15,000 saves the same £252 as a couple where one earns £50,000.
There are three ways to claim marriage allowance:
Online (recommended): Go to GOV.UK and search for "marriage allowance". You will need both partners' National Insurance numbers and the transferring partner's email address. The application takes about 5 minutes. Once approved, HMRC adjusts the receiving partner's tax code automatically.
By phone: Call HMRC on 0300 200 3300. You will need both NI numbers. The advisor will process the claim and adjust tax codes.
Through self-assessment: If the receiving partner files a self-assessment return, they can claim marriage allowance on the return. The saving will be reflected in the tax calculation.
Once set up, the allowance transfers automatically each year until you cancel it. You do not need to reapply annually.
You can backdate marriage allowance claims by up to 4 years. If you have been eligible since 2021/22 and never claimed, you can receive a backdated refund.
Maximum backdated refund (claiming for 2021/22 to 2024/25): 4 years × £252 = £1,008. Plus the current year (2025/26) applied to your tax code.
The backdated amount is paid as a lump sum to the receiving partner. The current year saving is applied through their PAYE tax code, reducing tax deducted from their salary each month.
Apply online at GOV.UK — the system handles backdating automatically when you submit your claim.
If you have been eligible for 4+ years and never claimed, you could receive a one-off refund of £1,008 plus ongoing savings of £252/year. That is £1,260 for a 5-minute application.
"My partner earns too much": Marriage allowance only requires the receiving partner to be a basic-rate taxpayer (up to £50,270). Many people assume you both need to earn very little.
"We are not married": Unfortunately, cohabiting couples cannot claim. This is one of the few financial incentives to marry in the UK tax system.
"It is not worth the hassle for £252": Remember you can backdate up to 4 years. And once set up, it renews automatically — you claim once and save every year.
Confusing marriage allowance with married couple's allowance: These are different things. Married couple's allowance is for couples where one or both partners were born before 6 April 1935. Marriage allowance is the newer, more widely available benefit.
Not switching the claim when circumstances change: If the lower-earning partner starts earning above £12,570, or the higher-earning partner becomes a higher-rate taxpayer, you should cancel the claim. HMRC does not automatically adjust for changed circumstances.
If the transferring partner dies during the tax year, the marriage allowance continues for the rest of that tax year. The receiving partner can also claim for any previous years where they were eligible.
If the receiving partner dies, any backdated claim can still be made by their estate through the personal representative.
In both cases, contact HMRC to ensure the claim is processed correctly and any refunds are issued.
Marriage allowance saves a fixed £252/year. For comparison:
Pension contributions (40% taxpayer, £10,000 contribution): Saves £4,000 in tax.
[Salary sacrifice](/blog/salary-sacrifice-calculator-uk) (£10,000): Saves £4,000 tax + £200–800 NI.
Claiming higher-rate pension relief you missed: Could be worth thousands.
Marriage allowance is a small but free saving. It should not be your primary tax planning strategy, but there is no reason not to claim it if you are eligible. Think of it as the baseline — claim this first, then look at the bigger strategies.
For higher earners, our tax strategies tool models all available strategies and ranks them by impact. Marriage allowance is one piece of a larger puzzle.
1. Check eligibility with our marriage allowance calculator — it takes 30 seconds.
2. Claim online at GOV.UK — it takes 5 minutes.
3. Backdate your claim for up to 4 years — you could receive over £1,000.
4. Set it and forget it — once claimed, it renews automatically each year.
5. Then look at the bigger wins — use our tax calculator to see your full tax position and identify larger saving opportunities.