Marriage Allowance Calculator

If you are married or in a civil partnership and one of you earns less than the Personal Allowance, Marriage Allowance could reduce your household's Income Tax bill. This calculator checks your eligibility and works out the net saving after accounting for any extra tax the lower earner might owe.

How to use the Marriage Allowance calculator

Enter both partners' annual income before tax. The calculator checks whether you meet the eligibility rules, then shows the tax saving for the higher earner, any extra tax the lower earner might owe as a result of giving up part of their allowance, and the net saving for your household overall.

How the calculation works

Marriage Allowance transfers a fixed £1,260 of Personal Allowance from the lower earner to the higher earner, worth up to £252 a year at the basic rate of 20%. If the lower earner's income is close to the Personal Allowance, giving up £1,260 can leave a small amount of their income newly taxable, so the calculator works out that extra tax and subtracts it from the higher earner's saving to give a true net figure.

Worked example

If the lower earner has an income of £9,000 and the higher earner has an income of £30,000, the lower earner's income stays comfortably below their reduced allowance of £11,310, so they owe no extra tax. The higher earner saves the full £252, and the net household saving is £252. If the lower earner instead had an income of £11,500, just £190 above the reduced allowance, they would owe about £38 in extra tax, bringing the net household saving down to roughly £214.

When Marriage Allowance is worth claiming

Marriage Allowance tends to be most worthwhile when the lower earner has income well below the Personal Allowance, for example if they work part-time, are not working, or are on a low income. The closer the lower earner's income gets to the full Personal Allowance, the smaller the net benefit becomes, since more of their transferred allowance ends up being needed to cover their own income.

Common mistakes people make

A common mistake is assuming Marriage Allowance always saves exactly £252, without checking whether the lower earner's own income might create a small offsetting tax bill. Another mistake is applying when one partner is actually a higher or additional rate taxpayer, since the higher earner must stay within the basic rate band for the claim to be valid. It is also easy to forget to update or cancel the claim if your circumstances change, such as a pay rise moving the higher earner into the higher rate band.

Related calculators

To see your full tax breakdown, try our income tax calculator. Our take-home pay calculator and National Insurance calculator can help you see the fuller picture of your household finances. For a complete breakdown of eligibility rules, backdating, and claiming online, see our Marriage Allowance guide. For more on how tax bands work, read our UK Income Tax guide.