Martin Lewis urges these couples to claim tax break worth up to £1,260

Money Saving Expert founder Martin Lewis is on a mission to ensure almost two million married couples and civil partners cash in on a lucrative tax break that could net them over £1,200.

On his latest show, the financial guru urged viewers to act swiftly to claim the Marriage Tax Allowance from HMRC before the April 5 deadline. The savvy rebate, worth £252 for the 2024/25 financial year, can be backdated to the 2020/21 tax year.

This could potentially be handing couples a windfall of up to £1,260. However, claims for the current year must be made online, while previous years require a form from GOV.UK to be posted.

Martin advised: "If you're trying to claim this tax year and past tax years, which most people will be doing, I'd just do it by post as it's just one application. The key is that HMRC must receive it by April 5, so you've got time but I'm saying do it now because it's a new way of doing it by post and it may get clogged up."

He also recommended using 'signed for delivery' to ensure HMRC acknowledges receipt of your claim.

Stephen called the show to share how he took Martin's advice last year and successfully received a full refund worth £1,200, despite him and his wife now being in their 70s. Martin explained that the £250 tax break is claimed this year by way of adjusted tax codes.

By contrast, previous years' tax rebates will come to people in the form of a cheque. Martin has advised people to check four eligibility criteria for Marriage Allowance at his website, MoneySavingExpert.com.

Anybody eligible for Marriage Allowance can claim backdated payments for the tax year of April 5, 2020 onwards

The value of the Personal Allowance rate affects the amount of the claim. Anybody who has lost their partner since 5 April 2020 can claim - a phone call to HMRC's Income Tax helpline on 0300 200 3300 will help. Visit the website for further details.

The authority said: "If your partner was the lower earner, the person responsible for managing their tax affairs needs to phone."

Full information about Marriage Allowance is available at gov.uk.