Marriage Allowance Calculator — 2026-27
Marriage Allowance lets a non-taxpaying partner transfer £1,260 of their Personal Allowance to a basic-rate partner, cutting that partner's tax by up to £252 a year. You can backdate a claim up to four years if you were eligible.
Enter both incomes and pick the years to check. The calculator stops you at once if either partner falls outside the rules.
The full eligibility checklist
- You are married or in a civil partnership — living together unmarried doesn't count.
- The partner giving the allowance earns £12,570 or less (the 2025-26 Personal Allowance).
- The partner receiving it earns between £12,571 and £50,270 — a basic-rate taxpayer.
- In Scotland, the recipient's ceiling is the intermediate-rate threshold (about £43,662), not £50,270.
- Neither of you claims Married Couple's Allowance (they can't be combined).
- You must both be UK taxpayers with valid National Insurance numbers.
How much it's worth, year by year
The transferable slice is £1,260 for 2023-24 onwards and was £1,250 in 2021-22 and 2022-23. The saving is always 20% of the transfer: £252 a year now, £250 in those older years. Backdate all four open years and the total reaches £1,256–£1,257 — one of the largest guaranteed cheques an average household can legitimately claim.
The fine print that decides real-world value: the transferrer's own allowance drops to £11,310. If they earn, say, £12,000, they'll pay 20% on the £690 above that — £138 — cutting the couple's net gain to £114 for the year. The calculator above runs this logic per year and stops you at once if a year fails the rules.
How the saving arrives
For the current and future years the recipient's tax code gains the M suffix and the saving flows automatically on every payslip. Backdated years usually come as a bank transfer or cheque. One application lasts: HMRC carries the transfer forward until your circumstances change, which you must tell them about. The lower earner has to be the one who applies — it's their allowance being moved.
What this estimate can't tell you
- You must be married or in a civil partnership.
- Scotland's recipient ceiling is the intermediate-rate threshold, lower than the rest of the UK.
- The saver must apply — the estimate cannot submit anything.
The free HMRC route
Everything this calculator estimates can be claimed directly from HMRC at no cost — usually online in a few minutes or via a short form. Refund companies charge a percentage of money that is already yours. We never handle claims and are not affiliated with HMRC.