Couples may be able to get £1,000 lump sum from HMRC plus £250 tax break this year

As it’s possible to backdate the claim for the previous four tax years, provided they qualified, couples could get a lump sum payment of more than £1,000.

HMRC hosts an online Marriage Allowance calculator, which can show how much tax they could save this tax year.

Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Deputy Chief Executive and Second Permanent Secretary, said: ”The Marriage Allowance calculator helps couples to find out in seconds how much they stand to benefit.

“Check today and claim right away. It’s a quick and easy process that’s worth up to £252 a year. Search ‘Marriage Allowance’ on GOV.UK for more information.”

Couples can claim Marriage Allowance for free, quickly and easily via Gov.uk. There is no need to apply via an external company, as applying directly means couples will get 100 per cent of the tax relief due.

Marriage Allowance lets a lower or non-earner transfer part of their tax-free Personal Allowance to their partner, reducing the amount of tax the partner pays. It could mean the lower earner ends up paying more tax, but they save money overall as a couple.

Most people have a Personal Allowance, normally £12,570, and this is the amount of taxable income they can earn without having to pay tax on it.

Claiming Marriage Allowance means the lower earner transfers £1,260 of their Personal Allowance to their wife, husband or civil partner.

This would reduce tax by up to £252 a year.

If they are eligible for any of the four previous tax years, couples can backdate their claim for those years.

It means they could potentially get a lump-sum payment worth more than £1,000 for those years.

To benefit from the Marriage Allowance, one partner must have income of less than £12,570 and the higher earning partner’s income must be between £12,571 and £50,270 (£43,662 in Scotland).

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Couples who might not be aware they could claim include those where one partner works and the other has income less than the personal allowance, such as those who:

• Have retired
• Have given up work to care for children or elderly relatives
• Are unable to work because of long term health conditions
• Have a part time job
• Have a low paid job

With around 68 per cent of people in their sixties married or in civil partnerships, many people in this age group might not realise they can claim Marriage Allowance if they have retired and their partner is still working.

Charlie Bethel, Chief Officer at UK Men’s Sheds, said: “If you have retired and your partner is still working, you may not realise that you could apply for Marriage Allowance.

“As a charity that brings retired men together, we are urging our members throughout the UK to invest the 30 seconds of time it takes to find out if they can claim.”