It was always the government’s intention to give this tax break to married couples and civil partners as a way to balance the negative tax implications, where only one spouse earns over the personal allowance.

When the prime minister announced this proposal back in 2014 he wanted it to protect the institution of marriage. But is a £212.00 a year tax break really going to do this?
 
Since the allowance was introduced last month, up to 10% of one spouse’s unused personal allowance can be transferred to the other. This is on the condition that neither spouse pays tax at the higher rate.
 
This is worth just over £4 per week, but the amount of administration involved in claiming it, may make people think twice before doing so.
 
At present, spouses are able to register an intention to make a claim for the ‘marriage allowance’ – they will then receive an email when the actual application process goes live, a sign that the system is already creaking under the strain of putting the relief into practice.
 
At that point, an application must be made and sent to HMRC.

Once pr