Married couple's allowance

Married couple's allowance

The married couple’s allowance (also known as MCA) does not reduce the amount of income on which you pay tax. It is used to calculate an amount to reduce your tax bill instead.

Married couple’s allowance is different from the marriage allowance (which is also known as the ‘transferable tax allowance for married couples and civil partners’).

Married couple’s allowance works by deducting 10% of the allowance from the tax due on your taxable income.

For 2026/27 the full allowance is £11,700. This means you get a maximum deduction of £1,170 from your income tax. However, no part of this amount can be refunded to you, even if you have no tax liability.

You can only claim one married couple’s allowance per married couple or civil partnership.

Eligibility

You are only entitled to married couple’s allowance if:

• you are married or in a civil partnership (see below), and
• at least one of you was born before 6 April 1935.

The amount of married couple’s allowance you get can be affected by the level of your income. If your adjusted net income is more than £39,200 in 2026/27, you might not be entitled to the full married couple’s allowance (see below under the heading: Higher income).

Changes in marriage or civil partnership status

Married couple’s allowance is due for each tax year that you are living together as husband and wife or civil partners.

Year of marriage

In the year of marriage or registration of a civil partnership, the amount you are entitled to is one twelfth of the allowance for each complete tax month – starting on the 6^th of the month – that you were married.

You should let HMRC know as soon as possible if you marry or register a civil partnership in a tax year and qualify because one of you was born before 6 April 1935 – you will get your tax relief quicker.

Separation and divorce

Separation affects your married couple’s allowance. You may become entitled to maintenance payments relief. Both of these allowances apply only if either you or your spouse or civil partner was born before 6 April 1935.

You can get married couple’s allowance in full in the year that you separate from your spouse or civil partner.

If you and your spouse or civil partner are later reconciled the allowance is available for the tax year of reconciliation. If this is also the year in which you separated, the allowance is given without any break.

For married couple’s allowance purposes you are treated as living with your spouse or civil partner unless you are separated:

• under an order of a Court, or
• by a formal deed of separation executed under seal, except in Scotland, where the deed should be witnessed, or
• in such circumstances that the separation is likely to be permanent.

There is further information on the tax effects of separation on our page Capital gains tax on separation and divorce.

Circumstances beyond your control

HMRC will treat you as living together if you are separated due to circumstances beyond your control – for example, if one of you is taken into a nursing home or hospitalised long term.

Death

The married couple’s allowance is available in full in the year of death. If the spouse or civil partner who has claimed married couple’s allowance dies and does not use all of the married couple’s allowance they are entitled to, the balance should be transferred to their surviving spouse or civil partner.

So, in the year your spouse or civil partner dies you should get the balance of married couple’s allowance not used against their income without needing to make a claim, but do check you get it.

Claiming

You can claim married couple’s allowance by completing the relevant section of your tax return if you are within self assessment. If you do not complete a tax return, you can claim married couple’s allowance by contacting HMRC and giving them details about your marriage or civil partnership ceremony and your spouse or civil partner.

If you are part of a married couple, who qualified for the allowance before 5 December 2005, the married couple’s allowance is automatically given to the husband. However, a married woman can:

• choose to have up to £2,265 of it herself – £226 off her tax bill; or
• have £4,530 if both husband and wife agree – worth £453 off her tax bill.

The balance is used to reduce the husband’s tax bill. But if there is any further surplus married couple’s allowance remaining unused by the husband by the end of the tax year, the couple can claim to transfer it to the wife (see below under the heading: Transferring married couple’s allowance).

If you are part of a married couple or civil partnership who first qualify for married couple’s allowance from 5 December 2005 onwards, married couple’s allowance is given to the partner with the higher income. The other partner can:

• choose to have up to £2,265 of the MCA – £226 off their tax bill; or
• have £4,530 if both partners agree – worth £453 off their tax bill.

The rest has to be taken off the tax bill of the partner entitled to the allowance. If there is any surplus married couple’s allowance remaining unused by the higher earning civil partner or spouse by the end of the tax year, the couple can claim to transfer it to the other civil partner or spouse (see below under the heading: Transferring married couple’s allowance).

It is also possible for a couple who married before 5 December 2005 to elect for the new rules to apply to them. HMRC will be able to help you make the change if you contact them.

Higher income

The amount of married couple’s allowance that can be claimed is determined by the amount of the spouse or civil partner’s adjusted net income. The married couple’s allowance can be reduced for a couple when:

• for those married before 5 December 2005, the husband’s adjusted net income is above an amount set for each year – £39,200 for 2026/27. The income of the wife is never taken into account; or
• for those married or registered after 5 December 2005, the adjusted net income of the higher-income spouse or civil partner is above an amount set for each year – £39,200 for 2026/27. The income of the lower-income spouse or civil partner is never taken into account.

The minimum married couple’s allowance that you can receive is £4,530 for 2026/27 – £453 off your tax bill – and you are entitled to this amount no matter how much income you have.

Working out your married couple’s allowance

To work out what married couple’s allowance you are entitled to, you must carry out the following calculation:

STEP 1: 

Work out your adjusted net income.

STEP 2:

Is your adjusted net income £53,540 or more in the 2026/27 tax year? 

• If YES, you will receive the minimum married couple’s allowance of £4,530 (that is, a tax deduction of £453) for 2026/27. You do not need to proceed with any more steps in this calculation. 
• If NO, proceed to step 3. 

STEP 3: 

Is your adjusted net income less than £39,200? 

• If YES, you will receive the full married couple’s allowance of £11,700. This means you get the maximum married couple’s allowance deduction of £1,170. You do not need to proceed with any more steps in this calculation.
• If NO, proceed to step 4.

STEP 4: 

From the adjusted net income figure which you calculated at step 1, deduct £39,200 (this is the limit for reducing your married couple’s allowance in tax year 2026/27).   

STEP 5: 

Take the figure you calculated at step 4 and divide this by two.

STEP 6: 

Take the figure you calculated at step 5 from the maximum married couple’s allowance of £11,700. This will give you your married couple’s allowance amount for the 2026/27 tax year. You will receive an married couple’s allowance deduction of 10% of this figure. 

Transferring married couple's allowance

You can transfer the married couple’s allowance to your spouse or civil partner if your income is too low to make use of it.

If you decide to share the married couple’s allowance or transfer the minimum married couple’s allowance before the start of the next tax year, you can complete and submit the online form available on GOV.UK. Using this form, you can transfer the minimum married couple’s allowance – £4,530 for 2026/27 – to your spouse or civil partner with effect from the start of the next tax year. The claim continues to apply until you withdraw it.

If you find after the end of the tax year that your income was not high enough to use your full married couple’s allowance, you can ask for the balance, or surplus, to be transferred to your spouse or civil partner. You use form 575(T) available on GOV.UK to request a transfer of the surplus married couple’s allowance. 

If you are claiming both blind person’s allowance (BPA) and married couple’s allowance you cannot transfer one allowance and not the other. You must transfer both allowances together. You use form 575(T) available on GOV.UK to request a transfer of the surplus married couple’s allowance and blind person’s allowance.