The deadline to contact HMRC is tomorrow
Married couples may be in for a cash boost if they meet certain criteria, as they could claim back up to £1,260 from the taxman. A post from the GOV UK X account on Friday reads: “Are you married or in a civil partnership? You could be missing out on tax savings!”
Through the Marriage Allowance scheme, one can transfer £1,260 of their Personal Allowance to their spouse, whether that’s a husband, wife or civil partner, meaning they could save up to £252 every tax year. At the moment, you can backdate claims to 2020, meaning you could save as much as £1,260 overall.
According to HMRC rules, if you’re part of a married couple or civil partnership, don’t pay Income Tax, or earn less than your Personal Allowance (the usual cut-off at £12,570), and your spouse is only charged at the basic rate, you may qualify for the tax break. The cutoff date to claim for the 2020/21 year is tomorrow, April 5, so you may want to act quickly.
An example scenario given by HMRC sees one partner earning £11,500 and staying beneath the tax threshold, while the other has an annual income of £20,000, therefore paying tax on £7,430. If the higher earner passes on on £1,260 of their allowance, this sees the lower earner’s Personal Allowance drop to £11,310.
This does mean the lower earner will get taxed on £190, but in turn, the higher earner now gets taxed on a lesser amount of £6,170 instead of £7,430. As a couple, this would mean they are only taxed on £6,360 rather than £7,430 – a yearly saving of £214.
