Married couples are being urged to claim as much as £1,008 from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) amid the worsening cost of living crisis.
It comes as the Chancellor’s autumn statement detailed how income tax and inheritance tax will be frozen for a further two years. The income tax squeeze will hit many hard, as people are forced to tighten their belts even further, according to Helen Morrisey from Hargreaves Lansdown.
Ms Morrisey told the ECHO: "“HMRC’s tax take continues to soar with the amounts of income tax, capital gains, inheritance tax and stamp duty heading skywards as a combination of threshold freezes and strong demand for property continue to play out.
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"We may see more people choosing to hoard their assets rather than sell them and be stung by capital gains tax or they may choose to invest more in ISAs and pensions instead. Putting an expiry date on Kwarteng’s stamp duty increases may prompt more people to stretch their budgets that bit further to buy a new home but the reality for many people is that soaring mortgage rates and the continuing squeeze on our finances are already making moves unaffordable."
Ms Morrisey has shared her top tips to reduce the amount of tax you pay, and one of these is to claim marriage allowance. She said: "If you qualify for the marriage allowance, make sure you claim it.
"If you’re married or living in a civil partnership, and one of you doesn’t earn enough to pay tax and the other is a basic rate taxpayer, you can claim the allowance. The lower earner applies to transfer a tenth of their personal allowance to the higher earner, so they pay tax on less of their income.
"This year it will save them £252, but it can be backdated for the previous four years (as long as you qualified in all of them) and will continue to be applied until your circumstances change and you ask for it to stop. Over 2 million people who qualify haven’t claimed yet, so make sure you do."
Other suggestions include saving money in ISAs, as these protect savings and investments from tax, and using salary benefit schemes from employers, such as on pensions, bike-to-work, and technology schemes, as these are free of tax, and in some cases, national insurance.
You can find out more about marriage allowance, and if you're eligible, here
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