Personal Allowance: £13,830 is a couple’s claim, not a rise
The standard Personal Allowance has not risen, but some couples can reach £13,830 through Marriage Allowance and claim back up to five tax years. Here is who qualifies and how much it is worth.
Key points
- The standard Personal Allowance stays at £12,570, and Express.co.uk reports the freeze on Income Tax bands runs to 2031 on current plans.
- £13,830 is what a person can reach after a Marriage Allowance transfer of £1,260 from a partner.
- The saving is up to £252 a year, and claims can reportedly be backdated to the current year plus the past four.
- Claim only through GOV.UK, as imitation websites exist.
The Personal Allowance has not risen to £13,830, despite some headlines suggesting it has. According to Express.co.uk, the standard tax-free amount “remains at £12,570” and has not moved since 2021. The £13,830 figure is what some married or civil-partnered people can reach through Marriage Allowance, and HMRC lets eligible couples backdate that claim.
That distinction matters because it decides who benefits. Most taxpayers will see no change to their allowance, while a smaller group of couples may be owed money for earlier years.
Is there a tax allowance increase in 2026 UK households can rely on?
Not for the standard allowance. GOV.UK says the Personal Allowance from 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026 was £12,570. It adds that your allowance can be bigger if you get Marriage Allowance or Blind Person’s Allowance, and smaller if your income is over £100,000. Express.co.uk reports that the hold on Income Tax bands has been extended to 2031 on current plans, which would leave the allowance at £12,570 for a decade.
The pressure to change this is real. A petition calling for the allowance to rise from £12,570 to £20,000 gathered 281,794 signatures before it closed. Its organisers said they thought it “abhorrent to tax pensioners on their state pension when it is over the personal allowance”.
In its response, HM Treasury said the Government “has no plans to increase the Personal Allowance to £20,000”. It said the move “would come at a significant fiscal cost of many billions of pounds per annum”. The Treasury added that the Chancellor will announce any tax changes at fiscal events in the usual way.
Who can claim backdated tax relief in 2026
The route behind the £13,830 figure is Marriage Allowance. Express.co.uk reports that the lower-earning partner can transfer £1,260 of their Personal Allowance to a spouse or civil partner. That cuts the other partner’s tax bill by £252 for each year claimed, which is 20% of £1,260.
The rules are narrow. According to Express, one partner must pay no Income Tax, meaning they earn less than £12,570. The other must be a basic rate taxpayer, earning between £12,570 and £50,270 once pre-tax workplace pension contributions are deducted.
Laura Suter, director of personal finance at AJ Bell, said: “It’s thought around two million couples are eligible for this tax break but not claiming it, and even those where one half of the couple is retired can claim the tax break.” She said claims can be backdated “for up to four years, assuming you were eligible in those years”. This means you can claim for the current tax year and the four previous tax years, a total of five tax years.
Express says HMRC adjusts the tax code to give the current-year benefit, with backdated years paid by cheque. GOV.UK confirms that HMRC changes a tax code when you claim Marriage Allowance. Express’s article also gives a one-year refund of £260. The 20% arithmetic and Ms Suter’s comments point to £252, so that is the figure used here.
HMRC personal tax allowance changes: a worked example
Take the example GOV.UK uses for 2025 to 2026: a person with £35,000 of taxable income and the standard £12,570 allowance. They pay 20% on £22,430, which is £4,486. Now suppose their partner earns nothing and transfers £1,260 of allowance under Marriage Allowance.
The first partner’s allowance becomes £13,830. Tax is then due on £21,170, which comes to £4,234. The difference is £252 for the year, matching the figure Express and AJ Bell give.
| Standard allowance | With Marriage Allowance | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax-free amount | £12,570 | £13,830 |
| Taxable income (from £35,000) | £22,430 | £21,170 |
| Tax at 20% | £4,486 | £4,234 |
If the couple had been eligible with the same incomes in the current year and the past four, five years at £252 comes to £1,260. That matches the maximum Express quotes. This is an illustration only. Your own figure depends on your incomes in each year and on whether you met the conditions throughout.
What to do now
Start by checking eligibility. Ms Suter says you can use the Government’s calculator. A claim is made online through GOV.UK and needs both partners’ National Insurance numbers plus some forms of ID. Work out which past tax years the couple met the income conditions, because a year in which the higher earner crossed £50,270, or the lower earner earned more than their allowance, would not count.
Do not delay. You can claim for the current tax year and the past four tax years. Tax years run from 6 April to 5 April, according to GOV.UK. If you do not claim within this window, earlier years will become unavailable. Express quotes Ms Suter’s warning about “scam websites that are mocked up to look like the government website but are actually imposters”.
Once a claim is accepted, check your next payslip or tax code notice for the change. GOV.UK says HMRC alters a tax code when you claim Marriage Allowance. If the code does not look right, contact HMRC with your details to hand.
Your questions answered
Is the personal tax allowance going up in 2026 for pensioners?
Express.co.uk reports that the standard Personal Allowance remains £12,570 and that Income Tax thresholds are frozen until 2031 on current plans. Nothing in the sources points to a separate rise for pensioners. Retired couples can still use Marriage Allowance, according to Ms Suter.
What is the tax allowance for over 75?
The sources do not give a separate figure for people over 75. GOV.UK’s page on rates sets out the standard £12,570 allowance for 2025 to 2026. It lists only high income, Marriage Allowance and Blind Person’s Allowance as reasons it might differ. Check your own position on GOV.UK or with HMRC.
Will claiming change my tax code?
Probably. GOV.UK lists claiming Marriage Allowance among the reasons HMRC changes a tax code. Express reports that the code is adjusted for the current year, while backdated years are paid by cheque.
How this article was produced
This story was researched, written and fact-checked by the Reported.News AI newsroom and edited by Alexander Ingram, our AI Money desk editor. Every claim is checked against the sources listed below. Our Editors, Jack Shaw, James Smith, Matthew Price and Suzy Eaton, oversee everything we publish. Read how we report.
Verification status
Sources (4)
- Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances (GOV.UK, 26 Jan 2012)
- Tax codes: Why your tax code might change (GOV.UK, 20 Sep 2012)
- Petition: Raise the income tax personal allowance from £12,570 to £20,000 (Petitions - UK Parliament and UK Government, 20 Dec 2024)
- HMRC confirms tax-free Personal Allowance rises to £13,830 with 'backdating' (Express.co.uk, 10 Oct 2026)
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Desk View · Opinion · Alexander Ingram (AiMoney)
The £13,830 headlines promise more than they deliver. The standard allowance is frozen, and the Treasury has said it has no plans to lift it by anything like the £20,000 petitioners wanted. But the real story is the couples leaving £252 a year unclaimed. Marriage Allowance is a modest, legitimate refund, and HMRC and ministers could do more to tell eligible households about it, rather than leaving it to newspapers.
Opinion from our AI money desk, based on the verified facts above. This isn't financial advice.
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