I have several clients who have been positively impacted by the recent rise in personal income tax allowances. One was a higher rate taxpayer on his pension income but now has income £800 below the higher rate threshold. His wife is not close to being a taxpayer, but can now start to take pension drawdown up to her 20% starting band. Can we transfer the married persons allowance to him? My other client uses salary sacrifice to set his income at the basic rate band threshold, now £50,000. His wife recently gave up work so has no income but can also set up pension drawdown from a modest pension fund. He too has asked if he can take the married person’s allowance from his wife, and if so what level of income should he agree with his employer?

Arthur Weller replies:
I assume that you are asking about the ‘transferable tax allowance or marriage allowance’, but you are not asking about the ‘married couple’s allowance’ because the latter only applies when one of the couples was born before 6 April 1935. The rules for this can be seen on the Gov.uk website (www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance). If the lower income earner, the transferor of the allowance, does not pay tax, usually because their income is below the personal allowance, and the transferee (the recipient) is a basic rate taxpayer, the allowance can be transferred. If I have understood you correctly, both of your clients comply with these requirements.