Income Tax Act 2007 section 52

Transfer back of unused relief

Section 52 allows unused married couple's allowance or civil partner's allowance relief to be transferred back to the original claimant when the recipient spouse or civil partner cannot fully use it.

• Where a spouse or civil partner has received a transferred married couple's or civil partner's allowance tax reduction but their tax liability is too low to use it all, the unused portion can be transferred back to the original claimant.
• The unused amount is calculated as the difference between the tax reduction the spouse or civil partner is entitled to and their comparable tax liability (as defined in section 53).
• Two conditions must be met: the spouse or civil partner must notify HMRC that the transfer back should apply for the tax year, and the original claimant must make a claim.
• Any tax reduction transferred back is in addition to any married couple's or civil partner's allowance the original claimant already receives in their own right.

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