Tax allowances
The personal allowance is a basic allowance that is available to most people resident in the UK.
Clients may also be entitled to a married couple’s allowance if they are married or in a civil partnership, and either they or their spouse or civil partner were born before 6 April 1935.
Those who are married or in a civil partnership and were born after 5 April 1935 may be entitled to a transferable tax allowance or ‘marriage allowance’. This allows any underused personal allowance up to a set limit to be transferred from one to the other partner in the marriage or civil partnership.
A client who is registered blind can claim a blind person’s allowance for the whole tax year. This is in addition to the personal allowance. Any unused allowance can be transferred to their spouse or civil partner. If both spouses and civil partners are registered blind, they can claim an allowance each.
A backdated claim can be made for up to four years for any allowances, so check whether the client has not received an allowance to which they are entitled.