Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much has been underspent, year on year, from projected budgets of foregone revenue due to couples claiming the marriage allowance.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Marriage Allowance allows a spouse or civil partner to transfer ten per cent of their income tax personal allowance, as long as the partner is not paying tax at higher rates.
The most recent estimates for the cost and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in HMRC’s published tax relief statistics, last updated in January 2026. This is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-reliefs/tax-relief-statistics-january-2026.
The number of Marriage Allowance claimants was estimated at 2,440,000 for the 2023-2024 tax year and the estimated cost is projected to be £590 million for the 2025-2026 tax year. Estimates of the number of claimants are the latest available and reflect only successful claimants up to that point in time and not the anticipated full take up when all backdated claims have been made in future tax years (up to 4 years later).
Data for previous tax years (up to 6 years) on the cost and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in the non-structural tax relief statistics, which is available at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs/non-structural-tax-relief-statistics-december-2024. This is summarised below.
Tax Year | Cost (£ million) | Number of Claimants |
2019–2020 | 520 | 2,020,000 |
2020–2021 | 560 | 2,170,000 |
2021–2022 | 560 | 2,280,000 |
2022–2023 | 580 | 2,350,000 |
2023–2024 (estimated) | 580 | 2,440,000 |
2024–2025 (estimated) | 580 | Not stated |
HMRC does not produce household-level analysis for Marriage Allowance eligibility.
HMRC’s ongoing communications campaign for Marriage Allowance seeks to raise awareness of the eligibility criteria for the allowance, encourage take-up and educate customers on how to claim. It consists of regular promotional activity throughout the year bolstered by paid-for activity at key times of increased interest or engagement in the allowance for customers.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what distributional analysis they have done on the (1) eligibility, and (2) take up, of the marriage allowance since its introduction, by age and income decile.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Marriage Allowance allows a spouse or civil partner to transfer ten per cent of their income tax personal allowance, as long as the partner is not paying tax at higher rates.
The most recent estimates for the cost and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in HMRC’s published tax relief statistics, last updated in January 2026. This is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-reliefs/tax-relief-statistics-january-2026.
The number of Marriage Allowance claimants was estimated at 2,440,000 for the 2023-2024 tax year and the estimated cost is projected to be £590 million for the 2025-2026 tax year. Estimates of the number of claimants are the latest available and reflect only successful claimants up to that point in time and not the anticipated full take up when all backdated claims have been made in future tax years (up to 4 years later).
Data for previous tax years (up to 6 years) on the cost and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in the non-structural tax relief statistics, which is available at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs/non-structural-tax-relief-statistics-december-2024. This is summarised below.
Tax Year | Cost (£ million) | Number of Claimants |
2019–2020 | 520 | 2,020,000 |
2020–2021 | 560 | 2,170,000 |
2021–2022 | 560 | 2,280,000 |
2022–2023 | 580 | 2,350,000 |
2023–2024 (estimated) | 580 | 2,440,000 |
2024–2025 (estimated) | 580 | Not stated |
HMRC does not produce household-level analysis for Marriage Allowance eligibility.
HMRC’s ongoing communications campaign for Marriage Allowance seeks to raise awareness of the eligibility criteria for the allowance, encourage take-up and educate customers on how to claim. It consists of regular promotional activity throughout the year bolstered by paid-for activity at key times of increased interest or engagement in the allowance for customers.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many couples have (1) been eligible to claim the marriage allowance, and (2) claimed the marriage allowance, year on year, since its introduction.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Marriage Allowance allows a spouse or civil partner to transfer ten per cent of their income tax personal allowance, as long as the partner is not paying tax at higher rates.
The most recent estimates for the cost and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in HMRC’s published tax relief statistics, last updated in January 2026. This is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-reliefs/tax-relief-statistics-january-2026.
The number of Marriage Allowance claimants was estimated at 2,440,000 for the 2023-2024 tax year and the estimated cost is projected to be £590 million for the 2025-2026 tax year. Estimates of the number of claimants are the latest available and reflect only successful claimants up to that point in time and not the anticipated full take up when all backdated claims have been made in future tax years (up to 4 years later).
Data for previous tax years (up to 6 years) on the cost and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in the non-structural tax relief statistics, which is available at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs/non-structural-tax-relief-statistics-december-2024. This is summarised below.
Tax Year | Cost (£ million) | Number of Claimants |
2019–2020 | 520 | 2,020,000 |
2020–2021 | 560 | 2,170,000 |
2021–2022 | 560 | 2,280,000 |
2022–2023 | 580 | 2,350,000 |
2023–2024 (estimated) | 580 | 2,440,000 |
2024–2025 (estimated) | 580 | Not stated |
HMRC does not produce household-level analysis for Marriage Allowance eligibility.
HMRC’s ongoing communications campaign for Marriage Allowance seeks to raise awareness of the eligibility criteria for the allowance, encourage take-up and educate customers on how to claim. It consists of regular promotional activity throughout the year bolstered by paid-for activity at key times of increased interest or engagement in the allowance for customers.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what research, if any, they have carried out or commissioned on the reasons for the level of take up of the marriage allowance.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Marriage Allowance allows a spouse or civil partner to transfer ten per cent of their income tax personal allowance, as long as the partner is not paying tax at higher rates.
The most recent estimates for the cost and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in HMRC’s published tax relief statistics, last updated in January 2026. This is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-reliefs/tax-relief-statistics-january-2026.
The number of Marriage Allowance claimants was estimated at 2,440,000 for the 2023-2024 tax year and the estimated cost is projected to be £590 million for the 2025-2026 tax year. Estimates of the number of claimants are the latest available and reflect only successful claimants up to that point in time and not the anticipated full take up when all backdated claims have been made in future tax years (up to 4 years later).
Data for previous tax years (up to 6 years) on the cost and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in the non-structural tax relief statistics, which is available at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs/non-structural-tax-relief-statistics-december-2024. This is summarised below.
Tax Year | Cost (£ million) | Number of Claimants |
2019–2020 | 520 | 2,020,000 |
2020–2021 | 560 | 2,170,000 |
2021–2022 | 560 | 2,280,000 |
2022–2023 | 580 | 2,350,000 |
2023–2024 (estimated) | 580 | 2,440,000 |
2024–2025 (estimated) | 580 | Not stated |
HMRC does not produce household-level analysis for Marriage Allowance eligibility.
HMRC’s ongoing communications campaign for Marriage Allowance seeks to raise awareness of the eligibility criteria for the allowance, encourage take-up and educate customers on how to claim. It consists of regular promotional activity throughout the year bolstered by paid-for activity at key times of increased interest or engagement in the allowance for customers.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in establishing a mechanism to collect tax information on a household basis, following the announcement from the Chancellor in the April 2024 Budget.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The personal tax system applies on an individual basis and has done since the introduction of the independent basis of taxation in 1990. The government remains committed to the principle of independent taxation.
However, there is more the government can do to improve how it uses the data it collects to better target financial support to those who need it, including to households.
At the Budget in October 2024, the government confirmed it will explore how better data use and sharing across government departments can improve the targeting of economic support to households, especially in times of crisis. HM Revenue and Customs is working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to take this forward.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 7 August (HL344), how many staff in (1) the Treasury, (2) HM Revenue and Customs, and (3) Valuation Office Agency, are permitted to undertake diversity-related network time during core working hours; what is the percentage of overall working time they are permitted to spend on such network activity; how many hours are allocated in total; what are the names of each of the networks being funded; and what plans they have to (a) increase, or (b) reduce, such funding.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMT has eight diversity networks:
HMRC has seven Diversity Networks:
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has seven Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) networks:
It is expected that staff manage any network activity they engage in without detriment to their role. These networks are not centrally funded.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding they plan to provide to departments other than the Department for Work and Pensions for the purpose of reducing parental conflict in (1) in 2019–20, and (2) over the next five years.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
In addition to DWP’s £39m Reducing Parental Conflict programme, the government provides funding to other departments that can contribute to a reduction in parental conflict, including a £6m joint DHSC/DWP package of measures to support children living with alcohol-dependent parents, the Public Health Grant to local authorities (£3.13bn in 2019/20) to funds public health services, such as treatment, prevention and reducing harm from alcohol and drug misuse in adults, and the MHCLG led Troubled Families programme (£200m in 2019/20).
Alongside this, over the course of this Parliament, the Government is spending £100 million to support victims and survivors of violence against women and girls.
Decisions on future funding for reducing parental conflict will be made in the round at the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what projections they have made for expenditure on the Marriage Allowance in 2019–20, following changes to the basic and higher rates of personal tax allowance.
Answered by Lord Bates
The estimated cost of Marriage Allowance is shown annually in the HMRC publication ‘Estimated costs of principal tax reliefs’ up to the current tax year and will be available for 2018-19 in the next publication (in early 2019). An estimate of future years cost is not provided as there is still uncertainty around the increase in take-up by the end of 2019-20.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have data on the income profile of Married Couples Allowance claimants; and if so, how many claimants are in the top half of the income distribution percentiles 50–99, and how many in the bottom half, broken down into percentiles (1) 1–20, and (2) 21–49.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The Marriage Allowance was introduced in 2015-16 to recognise the importance of marriage in the tax system. Around 1.8m people have claimed the allowance to date.
Our current best estimate assessment of the initial cost of this allowance is £140m in 2015-16, but this does not include the impact of any expected future claims, which can be backdated to this year. We forecast the total cost of this allowance to rise to £385m in 2015-16 once these claims are taken into account.
An estimate of the initial cost of this allowance for 2016-17 will not be available until the end of the tax year. We forecast an eventual cost to the exchequer of £425m, once all backdated claims are taken into account.
Marriage Allowance claims can be made up to 4 years after the tax year has finished. The expected future projections of the Marriage Allowance final cost for 2019-20 is not available because this depends on our forecast of backdated applications, and the forecast period does not currently extend out to 2023-24.
HM Treasury does not hold information relating to the income deciles of claimants or successful applicants of the Marriage Allowance. Previous analysis of the total eligible population has shown the majority of the benefits of this policy go to the bottom half of the income distribution. Only basic rate taxpayers and non-taxpayers will benefit.
HM Treasury does not hold information about how many individuals claiming Universal Credit are eligible for the Marriage Allowance.
The number of claimants of Married Couple's Allowance by the income groups requested is set out for the latest outturn year available (2014-15):
|
|
| Thousand |
Percentile Groups (ranged on total income before tax) |
|
|
|
Bottom 20% | 20%-50% | Top 50% | |
|
|
| |
2014-15 | 31 | 304 | 385 |
The cost of the Married Couples Allowance is forecast to be £220m in 2016-17. It is expected that the cost of this relief will decline, as it is restricted to couples where at least one of them is born before 6 April 1935.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much was spent on Married Couples Allowance in 2016–17.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The Marriage Allowance was introduced in 2015-16 to recognise the importance of marriage in the tax system. Around 1.8m people have claimed the allowance to date.
Our current best estimate assessment of the initial cost of this allowance is £140m in 2015-16, but this does not include the impact of any expected future claims, which can be backdated to this year. We forecast the total cost of this allowance to rise to £385m in 2015-16 once these claims are taken into account.
An estimate of the initial cost of this allowance for 2016-17 will not be available until the end of the tax year. We forecast an eventual cost to the exchequer of £425m, once all backdated claims are taken into account.
Marriage Allowance claims can be made up to 4 years after the tax year has finished. The expected future projections of the Marriage Allowance final cost for 2019-20 is not available because this depends on our forecast of backdated applications, and the forecast period does not currently extend out to 2023-24.
HM Treasury does not hold information relating to the income deciles of claimants or successful applicants of the Marriage Allowance. Previous analysis of the total eligible population has shown the majority of the benefits of this policy go to the bottom half of the income distribution. Only basic rate taxpayers and non-taxpayers will benefit.
HM Treasury does not hold information about how many individuals claiming Universal Credit are eligible for the Marriage Allowance.
The number of claimants of Married Couple's Allowance by the income groups requested is set out for the latest outturn year available (2014-15):
|
|
| Thousand |
Percentile Groups (ranged on total income before tax) |
|
|
|
Bottom 20% | 20%-50% | Top 50% | |
|
|
| |
2014-15 | 31 | 304 | 385 |
The cost of the Married Couples Allowance is forecast to be £220m in 2016-17. It is expected that the cost of this relief will decline, as it is restricted to couples where at least one of them is born before 6 April 1935.