Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert: Are you married? If so, you may be due a FREE £900

Martin Lewis appeared on Good Morning Britain today to talk marriage tax allowance. He revealed that a lot of British couples are yet to claim the cash. Martin told presenters: “Are you married? If so, you may be due a free £900.” Explaining the tax, he said: “The marriage tax allowance launched almost four years ago, but yet about one million eligible couples still haven’t claimed it and are missing out.

“It works for married couples or those in civil partnerships (not just cohabiting) where one pays tax at the basic 20 per cent rate and the other is a non-taxpayer.

“The non-taxpayer can apply to have 10 per cent (£1,190 for this tax year) of their tax-free allowance shifted to the taxpayer.”

This means £1,190 of income they were taxed on at 20 per cent is now tax-free – a £238 per year gain done via altering your tax code.

And assuming you were eligible, you can back claim to when it started too, so that’s a cheque for £662 – which in total is £900.

It’s important to note that it’s the non-taxpayer who must apply to transfer their allowance.

Self-assessment deadline warning – sort it NOW

Martin also warned: “If you’ve been sent a self-assessment tax return or received notification that you need to fill one in, you must complete it online by 11.59pm on 31 January and pay any tax due (the paper filing deadline has long past – that was 31 October) or you face a £100 fine plus interest on any underpayments.

“But if this is your first time doing it, then you’ll need to register for an activation code via the Gov.uk website which can take up to 10 working days to arrive, so that means you need to request one TODAY (17 January) – so if you’ve notapplied, do it urgently now.

“Also, try not to leave filing your return until the 31st deadline, as chances are the phone lines will be extremely busy if you need to contact them.”

Full info, FAQ and help in Martin’s full Marriage Tax Allowance Help guide. 

Martin Lewis mortgage deals revealed how to get the cheapest mortgage for you.

The expert claims the rates of new mortgages are still pretty close to historic lows right now, so you should still check and see if you can save by switching now.

This is especially if you’re on your lender’s standard variable rate (SVR) – the default rate most fixes and trackers revert to when the intro deal ends – then the savings can be huge.

What are the best deals on the market right now?

source: express.co.uk