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Updated on 30 April 2026

Marriage allowance: help with starting and stopping claims

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The timing of your marriage allowance claim can affect its start date. The decision of when to cancel or withdraw a claim can also determine when the withdrawal takes effect. This can be complex, so we have created two flowcharts to help you better understand when to start and stop claims.

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LITRG marriage allowance flowcharts

The marriage allowance (also known as the transferable tax allowance for married couples and civil partners) allows you to give up some of your personal allowance to provide a tax credit for your spouse or civil partner. This can reduce the amount of tax that your spouse or civil partner pays.

Queries to our website, and comments on HMRC’s previous customer forums, show that taxpayers are not sure when they should make or withdraw a claim for marriage allowance. It is important to get the timing right, as this can affect whether you and your spouse or civil partner make best use of the marriage allowance.

To assist you in understanding when might be most beneficial to make, review or withdraw a marriage allowance claim, we have developed two flowcharts, which you can find in our main marriage allowance guidance. These flowcharts complement the written information about the importance of timing in relation to marriage allowance claims in our guidance.

The first flowchart is for couples who do not currently have a marriage allowance claim in place. It shows the implications of making a claim in-year and after the end of the tax year. It also shows the different methods that can be used to make a claim, depending on the timing.

The second flowchart is for couples who have an ongoing marriage allowance claim in place and are thinking about withdrawing it. It shows which tax year the withdrawal will take effect and considers the position of couples whose marriage or civil partnership is ending.

We would love to hear what you think about this subject – you can share your comments below.

Please note all comments are moderated in line with our comment guidelines, so there might be a short delay before your comment is published if it meets the guidelines.

Joanne Walker
Technical officer

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