This information applies to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
This information gives details of the different types of allowances and when they can be claimed.
Personal allowance and blind person's allowance are fixed amounts that are set against your income, allowing you to receive that much income free of tax in any one tax year. Married couple's allowance works as a deduction from your tax bill. You may be entitled to receive more than one allowance.
All taxpayers living in the UK on a day to day basis are entitled to personal allowance. Some taxpayers can claim Blind Person's Allowance and Married Couple's Allowance as well.
If you have paid some tax on your income and are entitled to an allowance and are not getting it, you should claim it from your tax office. If you have not received all the allowances to which you are entitled, you can make a backdated claim for them for up to six years. If you are a self assessment taxpayer and you make a backdated claim after 1 April 2010, you can only claim for up to four years.
In practice, if you receive earnings or an occupational pension, this income is taxed through the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system. Depending on how you are paid, you will either get 1/52 of your personal allowance if you are paid weekly, or 1/12 of your personal allowance if you are paid monthly, as tax free pay every payday. After taking into account any other allowances or reliefs, the amount you earn or receive as pension above this level will be taxed. This means that allowances are spread equally over the year rather than you starting to pay tax only once earnings/pensions exceed the amounts of your allowances.
For more details about PAYE, see The Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system.
The following tax allowances can be given:
Everyone automatically gets the basic personal tax allowance. This can be set against all types of income. There are three amounts of Personal Allowance, but only the basic allowance is given automatically:
If you have income over a certain limit, the higher amounts for people aged 65 or over are reduced. However, they are not reduced below the standard amount (basic allowance) for people under 65, unless, from 6 April 2010, your income is more than £100,000 in the tax year.
More information about allowances is available on the Directgov website at www.direct.gov.uk.
Allowances for older people can be complex. If you are aged 60 or over and on a low income and have a problem with your tax allowances you may wish to contact TaxHelp for Older People (TOP) for advice on their Helpline on 0845 601 3321 (Mon-Fri 9.00am-5.00pm). TOP can arrange for a home visit, if your problem is better sorted out by a face-to-face meeting.
This table gives details of personal tax allowances for all in date tax years. These allowances are deducted from total taxable income before the amount of tax payable is calculated.
| Personal Allowance |
2004/05 tax year |
2005/06 tax year |
2006/07 tax year |
2007/08 tax year |
2008/09 tax year |
2009/10 tax year |
2010/11 tax year |
| Age under 65 | £4,745 | £4,895 | £5,035 | £5,225 | £6,035 | £6,475 | £6,475 |
| Age 65-74 | £6,830 | £7,090 | £7,280 | £7,550 | £9,030 | £9,490 | £9,490 |
| Age 75 and over | £6,950 | £7,220 | £7,420 | £7,690 | £9,180 | £9,640 | £9,640 |
| Income limit for personal allowances 65-74 and 75 and over |
£18,900 | £19,500 | £20,100 | £20,900 | £21,800 | £22,900 | £22,900 |
| Income limit for personal allowance under 65 |
No limit | No limit | No limit | No limit | No limit | No limit | £100,000 |
If your income is over the income limit, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will reduce the age-related allowance by half of the amount, £1 for every £2, you have over that limit, until the basic rate allowance is reached. You'll always get the basic allowance, whatever the level of your income, unless, from 6 April 2010, your income is more than £100,000 in the tax year.
For example, if you're 66 and have an income of £23,400, £500 over the limit of £22,900, HMRC would reduce your age-related allowance by £250 from £9,490 to £9,240.
This allowance works in the same way as your personal allowance. It is a fixed amount that is set against your taxable income, allowing you to receive that much income free of tax in any one tax year.
In England and Wales, you can claim a Blind Person's Allowance for the whole tax year if you are a registered blind person or become a registered blind person during the tax year. In Scotland and N. Ireland, where there is no register, you must be unable to perform any work for which eyesight is essential. So you do not necessarily need to be completely blind to claim the allowance.
In England and Wales, HMRC can also give you the allowance in the tax year before you registered as a blind person, if you obtained the evidence needed for registration during that tax year. This may help you if there is any delay with registering as a blind person.
If you are married or have a civil partner and cannot use all of your Blind Person's Allowance, you can ask your tax office to transfer the unused part of the allowance to your spouse or civil partner, whether or not your spouse or civil partner is blind. Any surplus Married Couple's Allowance, if you qualify for it, must be transferred at the same time. If both of you are registered as blind, you can each receive the allowance.
More information about the Blind Person's Allowance can be found on the Directgov website at www.direct.gov.uk.
In Northern Ireland, you can find more information about the Blind Person's Allowance on the NIDirect website at: www.nidirect.gov.uk.
This table gives details of Blind Person’s Allowance for each tax year. These allowances are deducted from total taxable income before the amount of tax payable is calculated.
| Blind Person’s Allowance |
2004/05 tax year |
2005/06 tax year |
2006/07 tax year |
2007/08 tax year |
2008/09 tax year |
2009/10 tax year |
2010/11 tax year |
| £1,560 | £1,610 | £1,660 | £1,730 | £1,800 | £1,890 | £1,890 |
To claim Married Couple's Allowance, you must be living together as a married couple or as civil partners and at least one of you must have been born before 6 April 1935.
The rules about Married Couple’s Allowance depend on the date you married or entered into a civil partnership, as well as the age of the older partner:
You can apply to your tax office to share the minimum Married Couple's Allowance between you or, if you both agree, to transfer the minimum Married Couple's Allowance to your spouse or partner
You will be entitled to a personal allowance in addition to the Married Couple’s Allowance, and may also be entitled to a Blind Person’s Allowance.
More information about the Married Couple’s Allowance is available on the Directgov website at www.direct.gov.uk and on the LITRG website at www.litrg.org.uk.
This table gives details of the maximum Married Couple’s Allowance for each year. You get the maximum allowance if your income does not exceed the income limit. Married Couple’s Allowance is an amount that is taken off your tax bill, so you can only claim it if you pay tax.
Your tax bill is reduced by 10% of the Married Couple’s Allowance to which you are entitled.
Any Married Couple’s Allowance taken off your tax bill can only reduce it to nil. Any excess is not repayable.
Married Couple’s Allowance One spouse \ Maximum |
2004/05 tax year |
2005/06 tax year |
2006/07 tax year |
2007/08 tax year |
2008/09 tax year |
2009/10 tax year |
2010/11 tax year |
| Under 75 | £5,725 | £5,905 | £6,065 | £6,285 | £6,535 | N/A* | N/A |
| Age 75 and over | £5,795 | £5,975 | £6,135 | £6,365 | £6,625 | £6,965 | £6,965 |
*During 2009/10 all eligible claimants reached the age of at least 75, so there is only one maximum amount from that year onwards.
More information about how income over the income limit can reduce your Married Couple’s Allowance is available on the Directgov website at www.direct.gov.uk.
Although your Married Couple’s Allowance can be reduced if your income exceeds the limit, the allowance can never be reduced below a fixed sum each year. This table gives the details of the minimum amount of Married Couple’s Allowance available each year.
Married Couple’s Allowance One spouse \ |
2004/05 tax year |
2005/06 tax year |
2006/07 tax year |
2007/08 tax year |
2008/09 tax year |
2009/10 tax year |
2010/11 tax year |
| Minimum amount | £2,210 | £2,280 | £2,350 | £2,440 | £2,540 | £2,670 | £2,670 |
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