Warning for thousands of couples missing out on up to £252 free cash each year – how to claim

THOUSANDS of couples could be in line for tax relief worth £252 a year.

Marriage allowance lets married couples or people in civil partnerships share their personal tax allowances.

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Your personal tax allowance is anything earned under £12,571 a year.

People can transfer 10% of this allowance to a partner which in turn reduces the tax they pay by up to £252 a year.

You can backdate a claim for up to four years too, so can get around £1,200 back in total.

But HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) says thousands of couples aren’t claiming the allowance when they could be.

Angela MacDonald, from HMRC, said: “We want every eligible couple to benefit from marriage allowance tax relief.

“Couples whose circumstances have changed – perhaps one of them has stopped working or taken a lower paid job – may not realise they are entitled to claim.”

Who is eligible and how can I apply?

To get marriage allowance, one person out of a couple needs to not earn enough to pay tax, while the other needs to be on the basic 20% tax rate.

You pay the basic 20% tax rate when you earn between £12,571 to £50,270 a year.

The specific circumstances where you can apply for marriage allowance are:

• you are married or in a civil partnership
• either you or your partner are a non-taxpayer meaning you earn £12,570 or less a year
• the other person has to earn between £12,571 and £50,270 a year
• you both have to be born on or after April 6, 1935

Only one person can apply for the tax break. The easiest way is by filling out a form on the government’s website.

But you’ll need a few things to hand, including your National Insurance numbers and ID for the non-taxpayer.

You can also apply through self-assessment or by writing to HMRC.

If you need help applying, you can call HMRC on 0300 200 3300.

This is how much the relief is worth for the current and past four tax years:

• 2022/2023 – £252
• 2021/2022 – £252
• 2020/2021 – £250
• 2019/2020 – £250
• 2018/2019 – £238

You can find out what you might be owed by using the government’s “marriage allowance calculator” online.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk