Married couples tax break

It’s budget week, and this means the usual feverish speculation about what new measures the Chancellor will announce on Wednesday. The general view is there won’t be any real surprises given the terrible state of the public finances though he may announce a crowd pleasing increase in the personal allowance to £11,000 rather than £10,600 as currently expected. What is definitely coming in from the 6th April however is the married couples and civil partners transferable allowance. This allows couples neither of whom are higher rate tax payers to transfer up to 10% of their personal allowance from the lower earning individual. This would mean a maximum of £1,060 if the allowance increases to £10,600 representing a potential maximum tax saving of £212, or £220 if the allowance increases to £11,000. The maximum tax saving ins only achieved if the lower earning spouse doesn’t then become a tax payer after giving up part of their allowance. To register for the allowance you need to register with HMRC here