Married Couple's Allowance
(asked on 5th September 2016) - View Source
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many couples claimed the married couples allowance in each financial year since 2001.
The Married Couple’s Allowance (MCA) is an additional allowance for married couples worth between £322 and £835.50 per couple in 2016-17. Prior to 2000-01, MCA was available to all married couples irrespective of age, but on the introduction of the tax credit system it remained available to married couples where at least one of them was born before 6 April 1935.
The estimated cost and the estimated number of claimants of MCA for the financial years 2002-03 to 2015-16 are given in the table below.
Married Couple's Allowance | ||
| Cost (£millions) | Number of Claimants (000s) |
2002-03 | 450 | 1160 |
2003-04 | 610 | 1510 |
2004-05 | 590 | 1450 |
2005-06 | 530 | 1320 |
2006-07 | 520 | 1230 |
2007-08 | 450 | 1050 |
2008-09 | * | * |
2009-10 | 440 | 890 |
2010-11 | 340 | 670 |
2011-12 | 400 | 760 |
2012-13 | 360 | 650 |
2013-14 | 320 | 570 |
2014-15 | 285 | 490 |
2015-16 | 245 | 420 |
*Data not currently available
Up to 2012-13 these estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) for the years concerned. Later years are projected from the 2012-13 SPI using the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Autumn Statement 2015 economic and fiscal outlook. Data for 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2008-09 are not currently available.