The UK taxation impact of marriage and forming a civil partnership – Part one: Income tax

Ahh … love and marriage... Mae West famously referred to marriage as ‘a great institution’ but then followed that up by stating ‘I’m not ready for an institution yet’.

Whether a bride and groom are getting married or (a bride and a bride and a groom and a groom) or a couple are forming a civil partnership the tax status of each individual in the union will impact a number of UK taxes; some benefitting the taxpayer and some not. Let’s start with income tax.

The first and most obvious impacts on a taxpayer’s income tax when a legal (romantic not business) partnership is entered into are the married couple’s allowance (MCA) and the marriage allowance (MA). Although both reliefs have the word ‘marriage’ in their description they are also available for civil partnerships. The former is only available for those where the elder of the...