Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the Marriage Allowance.

The Government introduced the Marriage Allowance (MA) in April 2015 to recognise marriage and civil partnerships in the tax system. It allows a spouse or civil partner to transfer 10 per cent of their Personal Allowance (PA) if their partner is a basic rate taxpayer.

At Spring Budget 2021, the Chancellor announced that the PA would be maintained from the years 2022-23 to 2025-26. The transferable tax allowance of £1,260 provided through the MA will remain at its current level until 2025-26.

As with all elements of Income Tax, the Government keeps this under review as part of the annual Budget process.