Do married couples pay lower tax ?

[Magix]

Been married for two years and I never thought to inform HMRC I didn't think it mattered but I heard someone talk about how they will pay less tax when they get married . Is this true ? I don't pay tax because as a pt worker I don't earn enough but dh pays a fair bit .

No , there is often talk but no action!

no, this went out years ago unless you are very old.

'I heard' always equals nonsense.

Special

If you changed your name on marriage you need to tell HMRC. Similarly if you've moved house.

I think the only advantages are that gifts and bequests between you are tax free. There may be an advantage to having savings in your name as you won't pay tax on the interest (not that there's much of that at the moment!)

There has been talk, though I don't know whether it will happen, of allowing people to transfer up to £1000 of their unused, tax-free personal allowance to their spouse. It will only affect couples where one earns less than the personal allowance (~£10k) and the other earns less than the cut off for higher rate tax (~£40k), and the saving would be no more than basic rate income tax on £1k: £200/year. If the lower earner earned £100/yr less than their personal allowance, they could only transfer £50 to their spouse, so would save £10/yr.