Marriage Allowance

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If your circumstances change

You must cancel Marriage Allowance if any of the following apply:

  • your relationship ends - because you’ve divorced, ended (‘dissolved’) your civil partnership or legally separated
  • your income changes and you’re no longer eligible
  • you no longer want to claim

If your income changes and you’re not sure if you should still claim, call HMRC Marriage Allowance enquiries.

How to cancel

Either of you can cancel if your relationship has ended.

If you’re cancelling for another reason, the person who made the claim must cancel.

If you send a Self Assessment tax return, your claim will not be cancelled if you leave the Marriage Allowance section blank. You must cancel online or by phone.

Cancel online

You can cancel Marriage Allowance online. You’ll be asked to prove your identity using information HMRC holds about you.

Cancel by phone

Contact Marriage Allowance enquiries to cancel or get help.

Marriage Allowance enquiries
Telephone: 0300 200 3300
Telephone from outside the UK: +44 135 535 9022
Monday to Friday: 8am to 6pm
Find out about call charges

After you cancel

If you cancel because of a change of income, the allowance will run until the end of the tax year (5 April).

If your relationship has ended, the change may be backdated to the start of the tax year (6 April).

This might mean you or your partner underpays tax for the year.

If your partner dies

If your partner dies after you’ve transferred some of your Personal Allowance to them:

  • their estate will be treated as having the increased Personal Allowance
  • your Personal Allowance will go back to the normal amount

Example

Your income is £8,000 and you transferred £1,260 of your allowance to your partner. This made your allowance £11,310 and their allowance £13,830.

After their death, their estate’s Personal Allowance stays at £13,830 and yours goes back to £12,570.

If your partner transferred some of their Personal Allowance to you before they died:

  • your Personal Allowance will remain at the higher level until the end of the tax year (5 April)
  • their estate will be treated as having the smaller amount

Example

Your partner transferred £1,260 to your Personal Allowance, making their allowance £11,310 and yours £13,830.

After their death, your Personal Allowance stays at £13,830 until 5 April, and then goes back to the normal amount. Their estate is treated as having a Personal Allowance of £11,310.