Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis is urging married couples, or those registered in a civil partnership, to check if they are due £1000 from HMRC.
He says couples can claim the money for a tax break of £250 a year, that can be backdated to 2017.
On a special edition of The Money Show Live, Martin explained the financial benefits of claiming Marriage Tax Allowance after a viewer got in touch with him to say that she and her partner had received nearly £1,000.
The money guru said: “If you are a married couple or in a civil partnership - not common law, just living together doesn’t count - and one of you is a non-taxpayer, the other is a basic 20% rate taxpayer, then this person can give 10% of their tax-free allowance to the other person.
“You apply online at GOV.Uk and it’s worth about £250 this year, but you can go back four years. The past years are done by cheque, this year is done by tax code change. It’s very lucrative, there are over one million people who aren’t claiming it.”
How does Marriage Tax Allowance work?
If one partner earns less than their personal allowance, which is less than £12, 570 for the tax year 2021/22 and the other partner is a basic rate taxpayer, that’s someone who earns £12,571 to £42,662 then the person who is earning less can transfer 10% of their personal allowance to the higher earner and reduce the tax bill of the highest earner.
As a result, the highest earning partner will have a higher personal allowance and will pay less tax on their total earnings, according to the Daily Record.
Marriage Tax Allowance claims can be backdated for up to four years, meaning that you could be due a refund from as far back as 2017/18 financial year.
Visit GOV.UK for more information on Marriage Allowance and make a claim.
