Under tax legislation, a person whose spouse dies is entitled to a special widowed person's tax-free allowance in the year of assessment in which the spouse dies. Eligibility for the special allowance is confined to the year of assessment in which a person is widowed. In tax law a year of assessment, or tax year, begins on 6 April.
The special widowed person's allowance in the tax year of bereavement is currently £6,300, equivalent to the allowance for a married couple. Otherwise the tax free allowance for a widowed person is £3,650.
The main purpose of the special allowance is to ensure the tax free allowances available to a family are maintained and not reduced during a tax year in which one of the spouses dies. The value of the allowance is the same irrespective of when in the tax year the spouse dies. The special allowance cannot be carried forward into subsequent years of assessment irrespective of the date in the year of assessment on which the deceased spouse dies.
The extent to which a widowed person may benefit from the special allowance depends on the particular circumstances of individuals.
