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What tax allowances am I entitled to?

Updated on 17 July 2023

Self-employment

On this page, we look at tax allowances and what you may be entitled to.

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What are tax allowances?

Most tax allowances work by reducing your taxable income to reduce the amount of income tax you pay. This means that you can have a certain amount of taxable income each year, tax free. 

You only pay income tax on taxable income that is above your tax allowances.

We explain who is eligible for UK tax allowances in the tax basics section.

If you are employed or receive a private pension you can check which allowances are included in your Notice of Coding by looking at your online Personal Tax Account that you can read about in our tax basics section.

What is the personal allowance?

The personal allowance is a tax allowance that is available to most people who are tax resident in the UK. It reduces the amount of taxable income on which you pay tax.

There is more information on the personal allowance, including an example, in our tax basics section.

What is the blind person’s allowance?

The blind person's allowance (BPA) reduces the amount of taxable income that you have to pay tax on. If you are eligible for the BPA, you are entitled to it in addition to the personal allowance.

There is more information on the BPA including the eligibility criteria in the tax basics section.

What is the married couple’s allowance?

The married couple's allowance (MCA) does not reduce the amount of taxable income on which you pay tax. It is used to calculate an amount to reduce your tax bill instead. You are only entitled to the MCA if you are married or in a civil partnership and at least one of you was born before 6 April 1935.

There is more information on the MCA including examples in the pensioners section.

What is the relief for maintenance payments?

You can find information on the relief for maintenance payments in our tax basics section.

Can I transfer my allowances to my spouse or civil partner?

We are often asked if married couples or civil partners can transfer their tax allowances to their spouse or partner if they do not use them. Some allowances are transferable, but others are not.

Marriage allowance or transferable tax allowance

You can only transfer some of the personal allowance to your spouse or civil partner if you meet certain conditions. This is known as the transferable tax allowance for married couples and civil partners or “marriage allowance”. Note that this is not an extra allowance – it is part of the personal allowance.

There is more information about the marriage allowance in the tax basics section.

Other allowances

You can transfer the blind person's allowance (BPA) to your spouse or civil partner, if your income is too low to make use of it. For more information on transferring the BPA, visit the tax basics section.

You can transfer the married couple's allowance (MCA) to your spouse or civil partner, if your income is too low to make use of it. For more information on transferring the MCA, visit the pensioners section.

How does marriage or civil partnership separation affect my tax allowances?

For information on how marriage or civil partnership separation affects your tax allowances, look at our tax basics section.

What are the trading allowance and property allowance?

If you have income from being self-employed by running a small business, or untaxed casual/miscellaneous income, you may be entitled to the trading allowance (also called the trading income allowance) of up to £1,000. This is in addition to any other tax allowances you are eligible for. Read about the trading allowance in more detail in our page What is the trading allowance?

If you have income from property, including income from renting out a driveway or garage, for example, you may be entitled to the property allowance (also known as the property income allowance) of up to £1,000. This is in addition to any other tax allowances you are eligible for (but not rent-a-room relief). Read about the property allowance in more detail in our page How does the property allowance work?.

If you have some trading income and some property income you may be able to claim both allowances if you meet the criteria for each individual allowance.

Tax guides

Introduction to the tax system How do I work out my tax? What income is taxable? What tax allowances am I entitled to? What tax rates apply to me? How is my tax collected? What if I cannot pay my tax bill? Do I need to complete a tax return? Self Assessment: understanding the basics What is Simple Assessment? How do I claim tax back? How do I claim back tax I have overpaid through PAYE on wages or pensions? How do I claim back tax if I complete a tax return? How do I claim back tax if I am taxed under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS)? How do I claim back tax on savings income? How do I claim a marriage allowance refund? How do I claim back tax on a payment protection insurance (PPI) pay-out? Should I use a tax refund company? What is National Insurance? How do I get a National Insurance number? What are Specified Adult Childcare credits? What is Scottish income tax? What is devolution? Do I have to pay Scottish income tax? How does Scottish income tax work? What is Welsh income tax? Do I have to pay Welsh income tax? Do I have to join a pension scheme? Tax relief on your pension contributions HMRC digital services Enquiries, penalties, appeals, complaints and debt Enquiries How to survive an enquiry by HMRC Tax penalties Tax appeals Alternative Dispute Resolution How do I complain to HMRC? What if I cannot pay my tax bill? What if I have a tax credits overpayment?
Am I employed, self-employed, both or neither? Working through a limited company What is the national minimum wage? How do I work out my tax? What income is taxable? What tax allowances am I entitled to? What tax rates apply to me? How is my tax collected? How is tax collected on taxable state benefits? How do I check my coding notice? Do I need to complete a tax return? What tax do I pay on redundancy payments?Employment benefits and expenses What are benefits-in-kind? What payments and benefits are non taxable? What if I incur expenses in relation to my job? What travel expenses can I claim? What if I use my own car for business purposes? Payroll giving Allowances and expenses paid to armed forces personnel and deductions from their income Pensions and employees What is automatic enrolment for employees? What National Insurance do I pay as an employee? How do I repay my student loan? What if I do not pay enough tax? What if I pay too much tax? What if I work abroad temporarily? What if I am in the armed forces and work overseas? First time workers Apprenticeships

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