State pensioners who have £1,260 to their name urged to claim HMRC perk

State pensioners are being handed £252 after using a little known but legal HMRC loophole. Married couples have been urged to do a 30-second check to see if they are missing out on £252 a year as we head towards Christmas.

Marriage allowance lets you transfer £1,260 of your personal allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner. Doing this reduces their tax by up to £252 in the tax year, which starts in April.

Your personal tax-free allowance worth is £12,570. Once your earnings go over this level, you start paying tax at the basic rate of 20%. In a marriage, the partner who earns below the personal allowance can transfer up to 10% of it to their partner.

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This adds up to a maximum of £1,260 to the partner's personal allowance, reducing how much tax they pay by £252. Steve Webb, partner at pension consultants LCP, told The Sun newspaper that the benefit is "well worth claiming".

The former Liberal Democrats pensions minister, who served under the coalition government with the Conservative Party over a decade ago, explained: "Claims can still be backdated to 2020/21 which could generate a useful lump sum."

Webb also said that with personal allowance being frozen until 2026, couples will want to make sure they "access all the tax-free income that they can". "The marriage allowance is one way of doing this," he went on and added.

The easiest way is to fill out a form on the new Labour Party government's website. You will need both your National Insurance numbers and a form of ID for the non-taxpayer. Alternatively, you can apply through self-assessment or by writing to HMRC. The requirements you must meet include being a married couple or civil partnership - and being born on or after April 6, 1935.