{"id":104384,"date":"2025-02-18T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=104384"},"modified":"2025-02-18T10:31:38","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T10:31:38","slug":"martin-lewis-urges-couples-to-tax-benefit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/martin-lewis-urges-couples-to-tax-benefit\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Lewis Urges Couples to Act Before 1 March to Claim \u00a31,200 Tax Benefit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Martin Lewis<\/strong>, the well-known personal finance expert, has issued a timely reminder for <strong>married couples and civil partners<\/strong> to take advantage of a <strong>tax benefit<\/strong> that could be worth up to <strong>\u00a31,260<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This <strong>Marriage Tax Allowance<\/strong> applies if one partner earns below the tax-free threshold and allows them to transfer a portion of their allowance to the other partner. Couples who have not claimed before <strong>can receive a lump sum of up to \u00a31,258<\/strong>, covering the past four tax years in addition to the current one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Lewis, an estimated <strong>2.1 million eligible couples<\/strong> have yet to claim this benefit. Many may not be aware that they can still apply <strong>even if the lower-earning partner has only worked part of the year<\/strong>. Given the rising cost of living, this <strong>financial relief could be significant for many households<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How the Marriage Tax Allowance Works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>Marriage Tax Allowance<\/strong> allows a lower-income partner to transfer <strong>10% of their unused personal allowance<\/strong> to their spouse, reducing their tax burden. In <strong>2024\/25<\/strong>, the standard personal allowance is <strong>\u00a312,570<\/strong>. This means:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The non-taxpayer (earning below \u00a312,570) can transfer <strong>\u00a31,260<\/strong> of their allowance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The recipient, if paying the <strong>basic 20% tax rate<\/strong>, will see a reduction of <strong>\u00a3252<\/strong> in their tax bill each year.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If the allowance is <strong>backdated for four years<\/strong>, the total potential refund is <strong>\u00a31,258<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To qualify, <strong>one partner must earn below \u00a312,570, and the other must be a basic-rate taxpayer (earning up to \u00a350,270 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, or \u00a343,662 in Scotland)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.moneysavingexpert.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.moneysavingexpert.com\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Martin Lewis<\/a> also emphasised that <strong>this tax break is available to couples where at least one partner was born after 5 April 1935<\/strong>. Those born before this date may be eligible for a different tax benefit, known as the <strong>Married Couple\u2019s Allowance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Urgency Due to Tax Year Deadlines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The deadline for backdating claims is <strong>5 April 2025<\/strong>, the end of the current tax year. If a couple has never applied, they can <strong>claim for the previous four years plus the current one<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, <strong>Martin Lewis recommends acting by 1 March<\/strong> to ensure enough time for the claim to be processed before the tax year ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He explained:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;There are 2.1 million eligible couples who are not claiming this, who should be claiming this and could gain. So do it on 1 March, or if you\u2019re the type of person who thinks, \u2018If I don\u2019t do it now, I\u2019ll never do it\u2019, you can go onto Gov.uk, download a form online, and post it in.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Lewis also noted that <strong>the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/marriage-allowance\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/marriage-allowance\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gov.uk<\/a> website for making applications is currently down for two weeks due to essential maintenance<\/strong>, calling the timing \u201cterrible\u201d as it prevents people from claiming immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Financial Impact and Claiming Process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Once approved, the allowance applies <strong>automatically through an adjusted <a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/pensioners-boost-hmrc-admits-tax-blunder\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"102585\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tax code<\/a> for the current year<\/strong>. However, backdated claims <strong>are paid as a lump sum via cheque or bank transfer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lewis clarified:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;The way it works for the current year is that your tax code is changed, but for past years they send you a cheque or make a bank transfer. So the Marriage Tax Allowance is absolutely crucial to do.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Couples can apply online through the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/apply-marriage-allowance\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/apply-marriage-allowance\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gov.uk<\/a><\/strong> website, provided they have details such as <strong>National Insurance numbers and income information<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Martin Lewis urges couples to act before the deadline to secure a valuable tax benefit\u2014a simple step that could mean extra cash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":104390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-taxation","category-social-welfare","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104384"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104384\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104397,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104384\/revisions\/104397"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}