This information applies to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
An income tax allowance is a fixed amount that is set against your income, allowing you to receive that much income free of tax in any one tax year. In the case of the married couple's allowance, the allowance works as a deduction from your tax bill. You may be entitled to receive more than one allowance. This information gives details of the different types of allowances and when they can be claimed.
All taxpayers living in the UK on a day to day basis can claim at least one tax allowance. Some taxpayers can claim more than one type of allowance. The Personal Allowance is given to all taxpayers whether they are employees, self-employed or do not work. Blind Person’s Allowance and Married Couple’s Allowance are available to all qualifying taxpayers. 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.
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 never reduced below the standard amount (basic allowance) for people under 65.
More information about allowances is available on the Direct Gov 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 |
2003/ 2004 tax year |
2004/ 2005 tax year |
2005/ 2006 tax year |
2006/ 2007 tax year |
2007/ 2008 tax year |
2008/ 2009 tax year |
2009/ 2010 tax year |
| Age under 65 | £4,615* | £4,745 | £4,895 | £5,035 | £5,225 | £6,035** | £6,475 |
| Age 65-74 | £6,610 | £6,830 | £7,090 | £7,280 | £7,550 | £9,030 | £9,490 |
| Age 75 and over | £6,720 | £6,950 | £7,220 | £7,420 | £7,690 | £9,180 | £9,640 |
| Income limit for personal allowances 65-74 and 75 and over |
£18,300 | £18,900 | £19,500 | £20,100 | £20,900 | £21,800 | £22,900 |
*Claims for 2003/04 must be made by 31/01/2010
**Increased from £5,435 to £6,035 and backdated for the whole year
If you are aged 65 or over, your Personal Allowance will be reduced if you have income of over £22,900 for 2009/10 but it will not be reduced below the standard (basic) amount for people under 65.
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.
So if, for example, 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, the equivalent requirement is that 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.
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. However any surplus Married Couple's Allowance, if you qualify for it, must also be transferred at the same time. If both of you are registered as blind, you can each receive the allowance.
If you become entitled to a Blind Person's Allowance, HM Revenue and Customs can also give you the allowance for the previous tax year. You must get proof of your blindness during that tax year, even if you were not yet registered as a blind person. This may help you if there is any delay with registering your blindness.
More information about the Blind Person's Allowance can be found on the Direct Gov 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 all in date tax years. These allowances are deducted from total taxable income before the amount of tax payable is calculated.
| Blind Person’s Allowance |
2003/04 tax year* |
2004/05 tax year |
2005/06 tax year |
2006/07 tax year |
2007/08 tax year |
2008/09 tax year |
2009/10 tax year |
| £1,510 | £1,560 | £1,610 | £1,660 | £1,730 | £1,800 | £1,890 |
*Claims for the allowance for 2003/04 must be made by 31/01/2010
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. You will be treated as living together unless you have separated in such circumstances that the separation is likely to be permanent.
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 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.
This table gives details of the maximum Married Couple’s Allowance for all in date tax years. 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. For example for 2009/10 the Married Couple’s Allowance can reduce your tax bill by a maximum of £696.50.
Any Married Couple’s Allowance taken off your tax bill can only reduce it to nil. Any excess is not repayable. For example in 2009/10 if your income is less than £29,230 and your tax bill is £500 you will have no tax to pay, as the allowance of £696.50 covers it all, but you cannot claim the £196.50 excess as a refund.
Married Couple’s Allowance One spouse \ Maximum |
2003/04 tax year* |
2004/05 tax year |
2005/06 tax year |
2006/07 tax year |
2007/08 tax year |
2008/09 tax year |
2009/10 tax year |
| Under 75 | £5,565 | £5,725 | £5,905 | £6,065 | £6,285 | £6,535 | N/A** |
| Age 75 and over | £5,635 | £5,795 | £5,975 | £6,135 | £6,365 | £6,625 | £6,965 |
| Claimant income limit before allowance is reduced |
|||||||
| Under 75 | £22,290 | £23,070 | £23,890 | £24,590 | £25,550 | £27,790 | N/A** |
| Age 75 and over | £22,510 | £23,310 | £24,150 | £24,870 | £25,830 | £28,090 | £29,230 |
*Claims for the allowance for 2003/04 must be made by 31/01/2010
**During 209/10 all eligible claimants reach the age of at least 75 so there is only one amount for the Married Couple’s Allowance
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 \ Minimum |
2003/04 tax year |
2004/05 tax year |
2005/06 tax year |
2006/07 tax year |
2007/08 tax year |
2008/09 tax year |
2009/10 tax year |
| Under 75 | £2,150 | £2,210 | £2,280 | £2,350 | £2,440 | £2,540 | N/A |
| Age 75 and over | £2,150 | £2,210 | £2,280 | £2,350 | £2,440 | £2,540 | £2,670 |
The higher tax allowance given to you if you are aged 65 or over is reduced if your total income is more than a certain limit. This limit is £22,900 for the tax year 2009/10.
Married Couple's Allowance can also be reduced if your income is more than the amounts in the table above. If you were married before 5 December 2005, it will be the husband's income which is counted. If you were married or entered into a civil partnership on or after this date, it will be the income of the partner who earns the most which is counted.
If income is over the income limit, the allowance is reduced by £1 for every £2 that the income is over the limit. However the Personal Allowance will not be reduced below the standard (basic) allowance mentioned above and the Married Couple's Allowance will not be reduced below the minimum amount.
When calculating whether your income is more than the income limit, any income which is not taxable should be excluded. The calculation is based on gross income before tax has been taken off. So, the tax will need to be added back if you have received income from which tax has been deducted, before you work out the Married Couple's Allowance. The most common example of this is where tax has been deducted from bank or building society interest before the payments are made to you.
If you need further information about this, you should consult an experienced adviser for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by e-mail, click on nearest CAB.
For details of tax-free income see Tax-free and taxable income.
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