Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the (a) annual cost to the public purse and (b) efficacy of the tax relief introduced under the Finance Act 2014 relating to the transferable tax allowance for married couples and civil partners.

The Marriage Allowance was introduced in April 2015, to recognise the importance of marriage in the tax system, and support those on low incomes. It allows a non-taxpayer who is married or in a civil partnership to transfer 10 per cent of their personal allowance to their spouse, provided they are a basic rate taxpayer. In 2016-17, eligible couples can receive a tax reduction of £220, or £432 if they make a backdated claim to 2015-16. Around 1.2 million couples have successfully applied for Marriage Allowance.

The Government remains committed to ensuring all eligible couples are aware they can claim the allowance, and HM Revenue and Customs recently launched a campaign to raise awareness of the savings the allowance can bring to eligible couples across the country. The estimates published at Budget 2015 projected that the Marriage Allowance will be worth £595 million to eligible couples in 2016-17.