This information applies to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

• What are allowances against income tax
• What allowances are available
• Personal allowance
• Blind Person's Allowance
• Married Couple’s Allowance

What are allowances against income tax

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.

Most 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 but there is a time limit for doing this. You can find more information about the time limit that applies in Tax refunds

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.

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What allowances are available

The following tax allowances can be given:

• Personal Allowance - see under heading Personal Allowance
• Blind Person’s Allowance - see under heading Blind Person’s Allowance
• Married Couple’s Allowance for couples where at least one member was born before 6 April 1935 - see under heading Married Couple’s Allowance.

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Personal allowance

Most people get the basic personal tax allowance automatically, but people with incomes over £100,000 get a reduced allowance or none at all. The personal allowance can be set against all types of income.

Abolition of age-related personal allowance for people who turn 65 on or after 6 April 2013 - 'Granny tax'

Taxpayers who turn 65 on or after 6 April 2013 will no longer be entitled to an age related personal tax allowance. They will receive the same personal allowance as people aged under 65. Larger personal tax allowances will still be given to some taxpayers but this will depend on the taxpayer's birth date rather than their age. Taxpayers born on or after 6 April 1938 up to and including 5 April 1948 will be entitled to a larger personal allowance, and taxpayers born before 5 April 1938 will be entitled to an even larger personal allowance.

How much is the personal allowance for the tax year starting on 6 April 2013

There are three amounts of Personal Allowance, but only the basic allowance is given automatically:

• a standard amount (the basic allowance) for most people born on or after 6 April 1948, so they are aged 65 or under on 6 April 2013
• a higher amount for people born between 6 April 1938 and 5 April 1948 inclusive, so they are aged between 66 and 74 on 6 April 2013. People aged 66 or over whose income is too high for the increased age allowances may only get the basic allowance.
• the highest amount for people born before 6 April 1938, so they are aged 75 or more on 6 April 2013. People aged 66 or over whose income is too high for the increased age allowances may only get the basic allowance.

Is your personal allowance reduced if you have income up to £100,000 and you’re 66 or over on 6 April 2013

If you are aged 66 or more on 6 April 2013 and your taxable income is between £26,100 and £100,000 in the 2013 to 2014 tax year, your personal allowance goes down by £1 for every £2 of income above £26,100, to a minimum personal allowance of £9,440. So if, for example, you're 66 and have income of £26,600 - £500 over the limit - your age-related personal allowance of £10,500 is reduced by £250 to £10,250.

Is your personal allowance reduced if your income is over £100,000, regardless of your age

No matter what your age, if your taxable income is above £100,000, your personal allowance goes down by £1 for every £2 your income is above £100,000. If your income is high enough, this can reduce your personal allowance to zero. '

Personal allowance amounts from 6 April 2013

This table gives details of personal tax allowances for tax years from 6 April 2013. These allowances are deducted from total taxable income before the amount of tax payable is calculated.

Personal allowance	2013/14 tax year
Basic personal allowance for people born on or after 6 April 1948	£9,440
Personal allowance for people born on or after 6 April 1938 up to and including 5 April 1948	£10,500
Personal allowance for people born before 6 April 1938	£10,660
Income limit for people born before 6 April 1948	£26,100
Income limit for basic personal allowance	£100,000

Personal Allowance amounts up to 5 April 2013

This table gives details of personal tax allowances for each tax year up to the 2013/14 tax year. These allowances are deducted from total taxable income before the amount of tax payable is calculated.

Basic personal allowance	2007/08 tax year	2008/09 tax year	2009/10 tax year	2010/11 tax year	2011/12 tax year	2012/2013 tax year
Age under 65	£5,225	£6,035	£6,475	£6,475	£7,475	£8,105
Age 65-74	£7,550	£9,030	£9,490	£9,490	£9,940	£10,500
Age 75 and over	£7,690	£9,180	£9,640	£9,640	£10,090	£10,660
Income limit for personal allowances 65-74 and 75 and over	£20,900	£21,800	£22,900	£22,900	£24,000	£25,400
Income limit for basic personal allowance under 65	No limit	No limit	No limit	£100,000	£100,000	£100,000

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Blind Person's Allowance

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 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.

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Blind Person’s Allowance amounts

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	2007/08 tax year	2008/09 tax year	2009/10 tax year	2010/11 tax year	2011/12 tax year	2012/13 tax year	2013/14 tax year
	£1,730	£1,800	£1,890	£1,890	£1,980	£2,100	£2,160

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Married Couple’s Allowance

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:

• If you married before 5 December 2005, the husband gets the Married Couple’s Allowance and the amount depends on the husband's income and the age of the older partner
• If you married or entered into a civil partnership on or after 5 December 2005, the partner with the higher income claims the Married Couple’s Allowance and the amount depends on the age of the older partner and the income of the partner with the higher income
• If you married before 5 December 2005 you can choose to have the rules which came in on 5 December 2005 applied to you so that the partner with the higher income gets the Married Couple’s Allowance. Contact your tax office to ask them about making the change.

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 GOV.UK website at www.gov.uk and on the LITRG website at www.litrg.org.uk.

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Married Couple’s Allowance: maximum amounts

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/civil partner born before 6 April 1935 Maximum Amount	2007/08 tax year	2008/09 tax year	2009/10 tax year	2010/11 tax year	2011/12 tax year	2012/13 tax year	2013/14 tax year
Under 75	£6,285	£6,535	N/A*	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Age 75 and over	£6,365	£6,625	£6,965	£6,965	£7,295	£7,705	£7,915

*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, including an interactive calculator to see how much you may get, is available on the GOV.Uk website at www.gov.uk.

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Married Couple’s Allowance: minimum amounts

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/civil partner born before 6 April 1935	2007/08 tax year	2008/09 tax year	2009/10 tax year	2010/11 tax year	2011/12 tax year	2012/13 tax year	2013/14 tax year
Minimum amount	£2,440	£2,540	£2,670	£2,670	£2,800	£2,960	£3,040

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Further help with tax problems

More information about allowances is available on the GOV.UK website at www.gov.uk.

Allowances for older people can be complex. For more information on personal allowances and to work out whether you should be paying tax in retirement, go to GOV.UK at www.gov.uk.

There is also information on tax for older people on the Low Income Tax Reform Group (LITRG) website at www.litrg.org.uk.

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) or through their website by e-mail at www.taxvol.org.uk. TOP can arrange for a home visit, if your problem is better sorted out by a face-to-face meeting.

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