25 May 2026
Marriage Allowance explained: how to claim up to £252 a year
Marriage Allowance lets couples transfer £1,260 of unused Personal Allowance and save up to £252 a year, backdated up to 4 years. Here's who qualifies and how to claim.
Marriage Allowance lets a lower-earning spouse or civil partner transfer £1,260 of their unused Personal Allowance to their partner, saving the receiving partner up to £252 a year in Income Tax. It's one of the most commonly missed reliefs in the UK tax system, largely because so few couples realise it exists.
Who can claim it
You can claim Marriage Allowance if all of the following apply:
- You're married or in a registered civil partnership. Living together isn't enough.
- The lower earner's income is below the Personal Allowance, £12,570 for 2026/27.
- The higher earner is a basic rate taxpayer, with income between £12,571 and £50,270 (or up to £43,662 in Scotland).
If the higher earner pays tax at the higher or additional rate, the claim is rejected. It only works when the receiving partner is a basic rate taxpayer.
How much you could save
The lower earner transfers £1,260 of their Personal Allowance. The receiving partner then has £1,260 more of their income taxed at 0% instead of 20%, which works out as a saving of £252 a year (20% of £1,260).
Backdating your claim
You can backdate a claim by up to 4 previous tax years, currently as far back as 2022/23, as well as claiming for the current year. Since the allowance and saving have stayed the same across that period, backdating fully and claiming this year too could be worth up to £1,260 in total, £252 for each of the five tax years, if you were eligible throughout.
How tax codes reflect Marriage Allowance
Once your claim is processed, you'll see it reflected in your tax code: an M code means you've received a transfer, and an N code means you've given part of your allowance away. See our guide to UK tax codes for what the rest of the letters mean.
How to claim
The lower earner applies, free of charge, directly at gov.uk. It's a straightforward online form, and the saving is usually applied through an updated tax code or, if you complete Self Assessment, as an adjustment to your bill. Never pay a third-party company to apply on your behalf. It costs nothing to do yourself and you'd only be giving away part of the saving in fees.
Our Income Tax Calculator and Salary Calculator don't currently have a Marriage Allowance input, so they won't reflect the transfer directly, but the £252 saving described above applies on top of whatever they show for the receiving partner's normal tax bill.