The long question is: Can I transfer my personal allowance to my husband/wife/civil partner if I am not using it?
Well from April 2015 the answer is yes, you can transfer part of it. So, if you are earning less than the personal allowance in 2015/16 and your partner (i.e. wife/husband/civil partner) has earnings that are not taxed at any higher than the 20% rate, then you can transfer part of your personal allowance to them – currently the amount that you can transfer is £1,060.
This would mean that they would have a personal allowance of £11,660 instead of £10,600, reducing their tax bill by £212 for the year and your personal allowance would be £9,540. Therefore if you earn less than £9,540 a year then it is a no-brainer to transfer this allowance over to your partner.
However, your partner must not be in the higher rate tax bracket for the transfer to be allowed.
Also, HMRC have not yet declared how this transfer will take place although they have indicated that it will be via an online submission.
This may help families in particular where there is the traditional model of one parent staying at home to look after the children and the other working.
The standard level of income that you would need to earn to fall into the 40% tax bracket is £42,385. Of course this may be different in certain circumstances so you should take advice for your personal situation. So it is possible if you earn below this and your partner earns less than £9,540 then it is worthwhile for you to transfer over the portion of the personal allowance. OK so a gain of £212 a year is not massive but it’s certainly worth having.
Edited to add on 20 Feb 2015: you can register your interest in transferring part of your allowance here: https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance
I am a none tax payer, how can I get part of my income tax allowance transferred to my husband?
Hi June, the exact way of transferring part of your allowance hasn’t been announced yet but is expected to be done online. You can do this any time in the next tax year.
Has anybody discovered how to go about getting this transfer of allowance. Form download etc??
I’m suspecting that there won’t be any mechanism put into place until at least 6th April unfortunately, but will keep an eye out for any announcements.
OK so you can register from today to show interest that you want to transfer part of your allowance here: https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance
why was the 6th April 1935 chosen as both my wife and I miss out by a year regards
Tony this new transfer of allowance is not restricted to those born before 1935, it is applicable to anyone. The old style Married Couple’s Allowance is what you are referring to and which was abolished in the 1999 budget for those who had not reached 65 in 2000. This new scheme appears now to have been named the Marriage Allowance and can be claimed by anyone who can benefit from it.
Hello, can I transfer less than 10% of my personal tax allowance to my wife, ie, just enough to cover any tax liability but leaving me enough not to pay tax?
No, you have to transfer the whole of the 10% but for most people this will leave them better off, as long as you are both not close to the personal allowance.
Hi both my wife and I will retire soon so my wife will only receive basic state pension which falls well below the £12500 tax allowance. Is it possible to transfer 10% (is this still the %) of her allowance to me?
Hi Steven, yes for sure, if you will have taxable income of more than £12,570 then you can definitely do this. Your wife will need to apply and she can do so online or by calling 0300 200 3300. And yes, it is still 10%.