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2026/27 Tax Year

Marriage Allowance Checker

Use this to see whether a couple is likely to qualify for Marriage Allowance in 2026/27, how much of the headline saving may actually be kept, and when the older Married Couple's Allowance route matters instead.

Current transfer: Marriage Allowance transfers £1,260 of Personal Allowance, which can reduce the recipient partner's tax bill by up to £252 in 2026/27.

Your couple setup

This is a simple couple-level estimator using the usual Personal Allowance and basic-rate checks. Complex savings, dividends and Scottish-band cases need a closer look.
Estimated couple saving from Marriage Allowance
£0 Eligibility status: check in progress
Recipient partner's tax reduction£0
Lower earner's extra tax after transfer£0
Couple tax before transfer£0
Couple tax after transfer£0
Marriage Allowance statusChecking...
Better route if notNo alternative needed
Main watch-outTransfer can create some tax for the lower earner

What this means

The headline saving is only fully available when the lower earner has enough unused allowance to transfer and the recipient partner remains within the basic-rate range.

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Worked examples — see the math on real numbers

Two scenarios showing when Marriage Allowance is worth claiming and when it isn't.

Jack and Sophie — Sophie working part-time

Jack's salary£42,000 (basic-rate)
Sophie's salary£9,500 (under Personal Allowance)
Personal Allowance each£12,570

The math:

  1. Sophie can transfer £1,260 of her unused Personal Allowance to Jack
  2. Sophie's PA reduces from £12,570 to £11,310 — still above her £9,500 income, so no impact
  3. Jack's tax bill reduces by £1,260 × 20% = £252
  4. They can backdate the claim 4 years if they've been eligible the whole time

Result: Jack and Sophie save £252 per year permanently, plus up to £1,008 in backdated relief from 2022/23. Total potential refund: £1,260 over 5 tax years.

Tom and Maya — both working, edge case

Tom's salary£50,500 (just into higher-rate)
Maya's salary£11,000 (under PA)

The math:

  1. Tom is a HIGHER-RATE taxpayer — Marriage Allowance is NOT available to higher-rate or additional-rate recipients
  2. Tom's income (£50,500) exceeds the 40% threshold (£50,270)
  3. Even though Maya could afford to give up £1,260 of her PA, the rule blocks the transfer

Result: Tom and Maya can't claim Marriage Allowance under current rules. Their best move is to get Tom under the £50,270 higher-rate threshold via salary sacrifice into a pension — that simultaneously enables Marriage Allowance and Personal Savings Allowance £1,000.

Figures use 2026/27 UK tax-year rates and thresholds. Always verify against your specific payslip or tax statement before acting.

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What Marriage Allowance is checking

Marriage Allowance works when one spouse or civil partner has unused Personal Allowance and the other is not a higher-rate taxpayer for the purpose of the scheme. The transfer is fixed, so the headline saving can be reduced if the lower earner has to pay tax on some of the allowance they transferred away.

Sources and assumptions

GOV.UK Marriage Allowance overview GOV.UK how Marriage Allowance works GOV.UK apply for Marriage Allowance GOV.UK Married Couple's Allowance

This page uses the standard 2026/27 Personal Allowance and the usual maximum Marriage Allowance saving of £252. It is intentionally a plain-English checker, not a full tax-return engine.