Martin Lewis urges married couples under 90 to claim income boost of up to £1,260

Martin Lewis is urging nearly two million married couples and those in a civil partnership not to miss out on a tax break worth more than £1,200 - just for being together. During the latest edition of the Martin Lewis Money Show Live, the consumer champion encouraged people to claim the annual rebate - worth £252 in the 2024/25 financial year - from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) before the current financial year ends on April 5.

The financial guru explained to STV viewers that claims for the Marriage Tax Allowance can be backdated by up to four years - taking it to the 2020/21 tax year - which means some couples could potentially be due tax relief of up to £1,260. However, Martin also explained that how you claim the tax break has changed and you can only claim for the current tax year (2024/25) online, for all others going back to April 6, 2020 you need to download a form from GOV.UK and send it in.

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Martin said: “If you’re trying to claim this tax year and past tax years, which most people will be doing, I’d just do it by post as it's just one application. The key is that HMRC must receive it by April 5, so you’ve got time but I’m saying do it now because it’s a new way of doing it by post and it may get clogged up.”

He also advised to do ‘signed for delivery’ post as HMRC will not notify you that they have received the claim.

Stephen contacted the show to share how he followed Martin’s advice last year, despite he and his wife being in their 70s, and received a full tax refund for £1,200.

Martin added that the £250 tax break for this year is paid through a change in your tax code, however, for previous years the refund payment is made by cheque.

Martin has shared full details on how to claim Marriage Allowance on MoneySavingExpert.com, which simplifies four key checks you can do to see if you will qualify.

These are:

• You must be married or in a civil partnership - living together, even if you have children, does not count

• Both of you must have been born after April 5, 1935 - if you are older, there's the Married Couple's Allowance instead

• One of you must be a non-Income-Tax-paye - usually earning under £12,570 per year

• The other must be a basic rate Income-Tax-payer - usually earning £12,570 to £50,270 per year in England or £43,662 per year in Scotland

Backdated Marriage Allowance payments

You can backdate your claim to include any tax year since April 5, 2020 that you were eligible for Marriage Allowance. Your partner’s tax bill will be reduced depending on the Personal Allowance rate for the years you’re backdating.

HMRC also explains that if your partner has died since April 5, 2020 you can still claim - phone the Income Tax helpline on 0300 200 3300, full details here.

HMRC adds: “If your partner was the lower earner, the person responsible for managing their tax affairs needs to phone.”

Below is each tax year and the value of the allowance:

• 2024/25 - £252

• 2023/24 - £252

• 2022/23 - £252

• 2021/22 - £252

• 2020/21 - £250

Full details about Marriage Allowance can be found on GOV.UK here.