Over one million couples fail to claim marriage allowance

Nearly three million couples have taken advantage of HMRC’s marriage allowance since it was set up, although over a quarter of eligible married couples are failing to take advantage of the tax break.

The allowance lets an individual transfer £1,190 of their personal allowance to their husband, wife or civil partner if they earn more than they do, reducing their tax by up to £238 in the tax year.

However, there is still a lack of awareness of the allowance with one in four couples who are eligible for the tax break failing to claim. An estimated 4.2m couples could be in line for the tax relief payment.

The lower earner must have an income of £11,850 or less and claims can be backdated to include any tax year since 5 April 2015 that you were eligible for Marriage Allowance.

HMRC say that more than a million married and civil partnered couples are still eligible for the free tax break worth up to £238 a year and can backdate their allowance to boost their payment up to £900.

Applying for marriage allowance can be done online and once an application is complete it’s processed immediately. HMRC says a new online form takes fewer than ten minutes to fill out and eligible applicants will receive backdated claims of up to £662 as a lump sum. Over 300,000 couples have signed up for the marriage allowance tax break since March 2018.

‘It’s great news that so many couples are now benefiting from the marriage allowance. This is a really important tax relief and reflects the social importance of marriages and civil partnerships,’ said Mel Stride, financial secretary to the Treasury.

Accountancy Daily