Martin Lewis warns millions of married couples are missing out on £1,260
Martin Lewis has issued an urgent warning to millions of married couples over £1,260 worth of tax breaks they could be missing out on. The BBC and ITV star spoke out in a new blog post, where he delved into whether being married was "financially worth it."
"Is being married financially worth it? The nine big benefits and how to use them to your advantage. My latest blog goes through them...," Mr Lewis said. Mr Lewis says you may be due £1,260 worth of tax breaks if you're married thanks to Marriage Tax Allowance.
Your spouse won't pay inheritance tax on anything you leave them, either, and an even more important inheritance tax boon is you can pass on your UNUSED inheritance tax allowance to your spouse, the 52-year-old said.
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You can freely move savings and investments between spouses, meaning you can take advantage of both of your tax-free allowances, Mr Lewis added. You can maximise capital gains tax allowances too - and he says there are far more protections if the relationship ends.
You may get a bigger State Pension if your spouse dies, you can inherit your spouse's ISA allowance but be warned: die will-less and an unmarried partner may get nowt, Mr Lewis added. The 52-year-old said: "There are financial pros and cons to being in a relationship. Yet while many of the big tax advantages come only from being married, most of the disadvantages apply to all cohabiting couples, not just married ones.
"For the benefits system, it's the fact you are a couple that counts, not your marital status when they means-test how much you earn. Similar is true with the student finance parental contribution assessment – in fact there, if a parent's partner has recently moved in with them, even though they have nothing to do with the child, this can reduce the child's student living loan (implicitly suggesting the new partner is expected to pay)."