The Martin Lewis Money Show: How YOU could be entitled to a £432 tax break
MARTIN LEWIS revealed how anyone married or in a civil partnership could be entitled to a £432 tax break on ITV’s The Martin Lewis Money Show.
Martin Lewis shares tips on Marriage Tax Allowance
Dishing out advice to the people of Cardiff, Martin revealed there are 3.1 million of 4.2 million eligible couples in the UK which are missing out on the Government’s Marriage Tax Allowance scheme.
The marriage tax allowance is a little-known way for couple to transfer a proportion of their personal allowance (the amount you can earn tax-free each tax year) between them.
But how do you qualify to get it?
Martin revealed that you need to either be married or in a civil partnership - but just living together doesn’t count.
One person in the couple needs to be a non-taxpayer, which means earning less than the £11,000 personal allowance (£10,600 for 2015/16).
The other person needs to be a basic 20 per cent rate taxpayer - but couples with a higher or additional rate taxpayer aren’t eligible for this allowance. This means you’d normally need to earn less than £43,000 (£42,385 for 2015/16).
Both people also must have been born on or after April 6, 1935 to qualify.
The marriage tax allowance started on April 6, 2015, and in year 1 was worth £212.
But for the new tax year starting in April 2016, it’s worth £220.
Plus Martin says claim it now and it’s backdated so many get last year’s and this year’s allowance, which equals £432.
Martin then went on to explain how it works.
The partner who has an unused amount of personal allowance can transfer £1,100 of their allowance to the other (so basically 10 per cent of the full allowance).
It doesn’t matter if they have £5,000 of their allowance left unused or £500, they can only transfer £1,100.
To apply, visit the marriage allowance section on the gov.uk website or ring up HMRC.
Martin said: “If you’re not sure you qualify, just try - the worst they can do is reject you.
“Just make sure it’s the non tax payer who makes the claim. If the tax payer tried to claim it they’ll be told they earn too much.”
Martin Lewis also explained your consumer rights on refunds and faulty goods on This Morning.