The level of income at which you start paying tax is called your tax threshold. For unmarried people and married couples or civil partners who were both born on 6 April 1935 or later, it is easy to work out your tax threshold. If your income is no more than your personal allowance then you don’t have to pay any tax. If you get the blind person’s allowance, add that to your personal allowance and the total gives your tax threshold.

However, this method does not work if you get the married couple’s allowance. In that case your threshold depends on two things. How much income you have and how much of that is from savings. If the income on top of your full tax allowances is from interest you will have a different tax threshold than if it is from earnings or a pension.

Table 3 Tax thresholds 2008-2009

Person who doesn't get married couple's allowance
Age
Less than 65	£6,035
65 - 74	£9,030
75 or more	£9,180
Full married couple's allowance adds Older partner's age       Standard Savings 73 - 74         £3,267 £4,427 75 or more £3,312 £4,472 Person who gets full married couple's allowance
Age less than 65
	Income from:
Spouse or partner's age	Standard	Savings
73 - 74	£9,302	£10,462
75 or more	£9,347	£10,507
Age 65 - 74
	Income from:
Spouse or partner's age	Savings	Other
73 - 74**	£12,298	£13,458
75 or more	£12,342	£13,502
Age 75 or more
	Income from:
Wife or partner's age	Savings	Other
75 or more	£12,492	£13,652

• * Only applies if non-savings income is no more than your personal tax allowance (PTA). If non-savings income is more than your PTA plus £2,320 use the standard threshold. If non-savings income is between these two amounts, your threshold will be between the two.
• **Can be any age under 75 if entitled partner is 73 or more.
• Add £1,800 to your threshold if you get the blind person’s allowance.
• These figures assume that one partner claims all the married couple's allowance.
• All figures are rounded down to the nearest pound.
• If you marry or become a civil partner during the tax year, remember you will get less than the full married couple's allowance and your threshold will be different.

So, for example, for a married man aged 74 with a wife under 75 the tax threshold – the income at which he starts paying tax – is his personal tax allowance of £9,030 plus:

• £4,427 if this extra income is all from savings; or
• £3,267 in all other cases.

And for a married man aged 76 the tax threshold – the income at which he starts paying tax – is his personal tax allowance of
£9,180 plus:

• £4,472 if this extra income is all from savings; or
• £3,312 in all other cases.

In some cases the threshold can be between these two amounts. It is important to know your tax threshold:

• If your income is below your tax threshold you do not have to pay tax and need not worry with the calculations!
• If you are part of a couple and one partner pays tax but the other does not, then it may be worth moving savings from the taxpayer’s name to the other partner’s name so that the income escapes tax. The non-taxpaying partner should try to bring their income up to their tax threshold but no further.

Work out your tax threshold. Write it down in the tax threshold box on the calculations sheet.