Can self-employed people and landlords claim the Marriage Allowance?

Yes. If your income is below £12,570, you can transfer £1,260 of your Personal Allowance to a basic-rate spouse or civil partner, cutting their 2026-27 tax by up to £252. Claims can go back to 6 April 2022.

Marriage Allowance works the same whether your income comes from a job, a trade or rent. What matters for the self-employed and landlords is which figure counts as your income, and what to do when it moves from year to year. This page follows GOV.UK, HMRC's PAYE Manual and sections 55B and 55D of the Income Tax Act 2007, all checked on 17 October 2026.

Who qualifies

The Personal Allowance has been £12,570 every year since 2022-23, so the £1,260 and £252 figures apply to each year you can still backdate.

What counts as income if you are self-employed or a landlord

In our reading, it is your taxable profit, not your turnover. GOV.UK says self-employed people deduct allowable expenses "to work out your taxable profit before paying Income Tax". A plasterer who takes £16,000 and spends £5,500 on materials, van and tools has £10,500 of income here, comfortably under £12,570.

Landlords should be careful with one cost. On residential lets, mortgage interest is not taken off rent to work out property profit. Instead it gets a separate basic-rate tax reduction. So a landlord's income for this test can be higher than the cash they actually keep.

Savings interest and dividends count as income too. GOV.UK says to call the Income Tax helpline if you get other income such as dividends or savings, and that you may need to work out which of you should claim.

If the giving partner's income ends up a little above £11,310, which is £12,570 less the £1,260 transferred, they pay some tax themselves. HMRC's notes warn of this. The couple usually still comes out ahead until that income reaches £12,570, where the tax they pay roughly equals what the other partner saves.

Paying your partner a wage

A wage from your business counts as your partner's income. If you pay them £6,720 a year, as in our guide on paying your partner a wage, and they have nothing else, they can still transfer £1,260. Their allowance drops to £11,310, which is still above the wage, so they pay no Income Tax. The wage also reduces your profit, which can help keep you inside the basic-rate band.

What this means for you

Variable profits are the main risk. HMRC's PAYE Manual says that if either partner is or becomes a higher-rate taxpayer at the end of the year, they are not eligible. So if a good year pushes the receiving partner over £50,270, or £43,662 in Scotland, there is no saving for that year. In our reading of section 55D(5), the transfer then stops for later years too, and you would apply again once you qualify.

If either income changes so that you no longer qualify, GOV.UK says you must cancel, and the allowance runs until 5 April. If your relationship ends, the change may be backdated to 6 April, which can leave one of you with tax to pay.

If you are registered for Self Assessment, GOV.UK says to apply through your tax return. Only the person giving the allowance fills in the Marriage Allowance section, boxes 1 to 5 on page TR 5 of the 2025-26 form. The person receiving it leaves that section blank. If you both file, GOV.UK says the giver should file at least 3 days before the receiver. In Making Tax Digital (MTD), HMRC adds Marriage Allowance claims to your tax return, and you must check them before submitting.

A worked example

Dan is a self-employed electrician with a 2026-27 profit of £38,000. His wife Kerry runs a small decorating business with turnover of £16,000 and costs of £5,500, a profit of £10,500. Kerry transfers £1,260 to Dan. Her allowance falls to £11,310, still above her profit and she has no other income, so she pays no Income Tax. Dan's tax falls by £252.

If they also qualified in each year from 2022-23 to 2025-26, with Dan paying basic-rate tax, Kerry can backdate those 4 years for up to £1,008 more, a total of up to £1,260. This is an example only.

Steps to claim

1. Work out each partner's total taxable income for the years you want to claim. In our reading that means taxable profit, not turnover, plus any wages, pensions, rental profit, savings interest and dividends.
2. Check that the lower earner is under £12,570 and the other partner stays within the basic-rate band.
3. If the giving partner is registered for Self Assessment, they claim in the Marriage Allowance section of their tax return. Otherwise apply online. The lower earner usually makes the claim.
4. To backdate, use form MATCF by post. Claim 2022-23 by 5 April 2027.
5. If you both file a tax return, the receiving partner leaves the section blank and the giving partner files at least 3 days before the other.
6. Review it every year once your figures are in, and cancel if either of you stops qualifying.

The free MTD check shows when Making Tax Digital starts for you. There are more guides in the trades section and the landlord section.