1. Who are eligible to claim the “married person's allowance”? What is the amount of that allowance?

1. Who are eligible to claim the “married person's allowance”? What is the amount of that allowance?

Under section 29 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance, a taxpayer is eligible to claim the married person's allowance if he/she was, at any time during a year of assessment, 

• married and not living apart from his/her spouse; or
• living apart from his/her spouse but was maintaining or supporting him/her.

The following conditions must also be fulfilled: 

• the spouse of the taxpayer did not have any income chargeable to Salaries Tax and has not elected for Personal Assessment separately for the year; or
• the taxpayer and his/her spouse have elected joint assessment under salaries tax; or the taxpayer and his/her spouse have elected Personal Assessment jointly for the year.

For instance, a taxpayer can claim married person's allowance if his/her spouse does not have any taxable salary income.  If his/her spouse has taxable salary income (i.e. both the taxpayer and his/her spouse are chargeable to Salaries Tax), both the taxpayer and his/her spouse will be entitled to claim basic allowance, in which case married person's allowance will not be available unless both spouses have elected for joint assessment.  Note that the taxpayer will not be entitled to both the basic allowance and married person's allowance at the same time.

If you are married at any point in a given assessment year, regardless of the fact that your spouse is not a resident of Hong Kong, you are eligible to apply for the married person's allowance, provided you meet the aforementioned criteria. 

“Marriage” is defined in section 2 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance as meaning: 

1. any marriage recognized by the law of Hong Kong; or
2. any marriage, whether or not so recognized, entered into outside Hong Kong according to the law of the place where it was entered into and between persons having the capacity to marry,

Same-sex marriage would be regarded as a valid marriage for the purposes of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. However, marriage shall not include, in the case of a marriage which is both potentially and actually polygamous, include marriage between a man and any wife other than the principal wife. 

The amount of the married person's allowance (for a married couple) from the year of assessment 2023/24 onwards is $264,000. Taxpayers cannot claim an individual basic allowance if they have already claimed the married person's allowance.