Transferring personal allowance to your spouse - the "marriage allowance"?

The marriage allowance allows an individual to transfer some of their personal allowance (up to £1,260) to their spouse or civil partner.

This can reduce your spouse or partner's tax bill by up to £252.

If you don't use up your full personal allowance and this applies, an option will automatically appear in untied as part of the tax return questions when filing your self assessment.

Selecting this option and providing some additional information will allow you to transfer the marriage allowance to a spouse or civil partner.

To be eligible, your partner must pay tax at the basic rate (their income is generally between £12,571 and £50,270), or the starter, basic or intermediate rate in Scotland (which usually means their income is between £12,571 and £43,662).

If you are receiving the marriage allowance from your spouse, then there isn't actually anywhere to claim this on the HMRC tax return. Instead, your spouse should transfer this on their tax return, or follow the HMRC guidance here to apply for the transfer.

Remember when you'd never had it so good?

If one of you was born before 6 April 1935, then you can claim the married couples allowance which is likely to be more beneficial for you.