Tax and allowances for older people Married couple's allowance
If you are married or in a civil partnership and one of you was born before 6 April 1935, you may be entitled to an extra married couple's allowance (MCA).
Married couple's allowance won't increase the amount you can receive before you pay tax. Instead, as a ‘restricted’ allowance, it reduces your tax bill by 10% of the allowance you are entitled to.
Example
So, for example, if you receive the 2011-12 minimum allowance of £2,800, your tax bill would be reduced by £280.
Deducting the MCA from your tax bill cannot result in a refund, however, so if you owe, for example, £400 in tax and the tax relief from your MCA is £500, your overall tax payment will be zero – you cannot get a £100 refund.
See below for details of how to transfer surplus MCA to your spouse/civil partner.
You may be able to use the married couples' allowance
How the married couple's allowance works
Married couple's allowance only applies for those born before 6 April 1935. This means that anyone eligible to claim it will have reached age 75 by 5 April 2010. For the 2011-12 tax year, married couple's allowance is £7,295.
However, as with age-related allowance, if your income is above a certain limit, MCA is reduced by £1 for every £2 of additional income.
Lower and upper limits
The table below shows the lower and upper earning limits between which you receive some married couple's allowance.
If your income falls below the lower limit, then you will receive the full married couple's allowance. If your income falls between the lower and upper limit, you will receive some married couple's allowance, but not the full amount.
If your income is above the upper limit shown you will only receive the minimum married couple's allowance. In the tax year 2010-11 this was £2,670 and in the current tax year 2011-12 it is £2,800.
The recipient of married couple's allowance is normally the husband. However, if you married or became civil partners on or after 5 December 2005, the allowance is given to the partner with the higher income (and is also reduced by reference to their income).
| Upper and lower limits for higher age-related married couple’s allowance | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age of recipient | Age of spouse or civil partner | Lower limit 2010-2011 | Upper limit 2010-2011 | Lower limit 2011-2012 | Upper limit 2011-2012 |
| Under 65 | 74 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Under 65 | 75 or over | £22,900 | £31,490 | £24,000 | £32,990 |
| 65 to 74 | 74 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 65 to 74 | 75 or over | £28,930 | £37,520 | £28,930 | £37,520 |
| 75 or over | Any age | £29,230 | £37,820 | £29,230 | £37,820 |
Be aware that if your tax bill is too low to use up all of your married couple's allowance, then you can transfer the unused amount of MCA to your partner. This is different to ‘unused’ personal allowance, which can’t be transferred.
To transfer MCA, tick the relevant box on your tax return after the end of the tax year, or contact your tax office if you don't normally complete a return.
Maintenance relief
Married couples and civil partners can claim this additional allowance, which acts to reduce your tax bill if you are making maintenance payments to your ex-partner.
To be eligible for this, you or your ex-partner must have been born before 6 April 1935 and the maintenance payments you make must be under a legally binding agreement.
Your tax bill will be reduced by the lower of:
- 10% of £2,800 (for 2011-12) or
- 10% of the amount you've actually paid.