Marriage Allowance
Marriage Allowance: what moves between you, and what your letters then show
If you are married or in a civil partnership and one of you earns less than the £12,570 Personal Allowance, that partner can give £1,260 of their allowance to the other. The receiving partner’s tax falls by £252.00 a year, as long as they pay no more than the basic rate. The giver’s allowance becomes £11,310, and that smaller figure is what appears on their tax code, P800 and Simple Assessment. This page explains the arithmetic, shows what each partner’s letters look like, works out the saving for your figures and walks through claiming.
How it works
1. Who can claim
You are married or in a civil partnership (living together is not enough), one of you has income below the £12,570 Personal Allowance, and the other pays Income Tax at the basic rate: income between £12,570 and £50,270. In Scotland the receiver must pay no more than the intermediate rate. The lower earner makes the claim.
2. What moves: £1,260 of allowance
The giver’s Personal Allowance drops from £12,570 to £11,310. The receiver does not get a bigger allowance; instead their Income Tax bill is reduced by 20% of £1,260, which is £252.00. It is a fixed amount: it cannot be more than £252.00, and it cannot turn a bill into a refund.
3. The tax codes
The giver’s code ends in N: 1131N, the reduced allowance with the last digit dropped. The receiver’s code ends in M: 1383M, which is the standard allowance plus £1,260 so that the saving is collected through PAYE a little each payday. Both codes are normal codes; the letters just record the transfer.
4. It stays until you cancel it
The claim carries on automatically every year. If the giver’s income later rises above £11,310, they pay tax on the excess; if it rises above £12,570, the couple is no longer better off and either partner can cancel from the next 6 April. If the receiver moves into the higher rate the claim stops being allowed and HMRC will ask for the saving back for that year.
What each partner’s P800 or Simple Assessment shows
The transfer never appears as a bigger allowance on the receiver’s calculation, and it appears on the giver’s only as a smaller one. Knowing that saves a phone call: a Personal Allowance of £11,310 is not an error.
The giver (code ending N)
The calculation shows a Personal Allowance of £11,310, with no mention of Marriage Allowance. Income up to £11,310 is tax-free; anything above it, up to £12,570, is taxed at 20% even though the standard allowance would have covered it.
- Personal Allowance shown
- £11,310
- Tax code
- 1131N
If your letter shows £11,310, that is Marriage Allowance, not a mistake.
The receiver (code ending M)
The calculation shows the standard Personal Allowance of £12,570, works out the tax as normal, and then takes off a separate line of £252.00 labelled as the Marriage Allowance transfer. The allowance figure itself does not change.
- Personal Allowance shown
- £12,570
- Marriage Allowance transfer
- − £252.00
- Tax code
- 1383M
Look for the £252.00 reduction near the bottom of the calculation, not in the allowance line.
Why so many Simple Assessments are about Marriage Allowance
A worked example (2025/26)
Margaret gets the full new State Pension of £11,973 and nothing else. Years ago she gave £1,260 of her allowance to her husband, who earns £30,000.
- Her husband’s tax falls by £252.00 a year, collected through his 1383M code.
- Margaret’s allowance is £11,310. Her State Pension of £11,973 is £663 over it, so £132.60 of tax is due on her.
- The DWP cannot deduct tax and she has no other pension to put a code on, so HMRC sends her a Simple Assessment for £132.60.
- As a couple they are still £119.40 a year ahead. If her pension rises past £12,570 the claim will cost more than it saves, and she should cancel it.
Most Simple Assessment bills go to pensioners whose State Pension is above their Personal Allowance. For someone who gave Marriage Allowance the allowance is £11,310, and the full new State Pension is already over that, so the bill arrives even though the pension alone is within the standard £12,570. Each April the State Pension rises and the bill grows a little.
The bill is right; the question is whether the transfer still pays. While the receiver saves £252.00 and the giver’s extra tax is less than that, keep it. Once the giver’s income passes £12,570, cancel it and the giver’s code goes back to L.
Rebuild a Simple Assessment with Marriage Allowance tickedWork out the saving for your figures
Enter both incomes. We say whether you can claim, what each partner’s allowance, tax and code become, and what the two of you gain together.
Your figures
The partner who gives the allowance. Pay, pensions and the State Pension added together. Must be under £12,570 to claim.
The partner who receives the reduction. Must pay basic rate tax: between £12,570 and £50,270.
Claiming, and cancelling, on GOV.UK
- 1The lower earner claims, online through GOV.UK, with both National Insurance numbers and proof of identity (a passport, a payslip or a P60). It takes about ten minutes and there is no form to post.
- 2HMRC changes both tax codes: the giver’s to end in N and the receiver’s to end in M. Where the receiver is on PAYE the saving arrives through their payslips within a month or two; where either partner sends a tax return, it goes through the return.
- 3You can backdate the claim to every year since 5 April four years ago in which you were both eligible. HMRC recalculates those years and pays the receiver the difference, either through the code or as a refund.
- 4To cancel, either partner tells HMRC online or by phone. A cancellation by the giver takes effect from the next 6 April; if the marriage or civil partnership ends, the change can be backdated to the start of that tax year.