For the 2026/27 UK tax year, an individual qualifies for Blind Person's Allowance and has no spouse or civil partner to transfer any allowance to or from. How does this allowance interact with their standard Personal Allowance?
- Blind Person's Allowance of £3,250 is added on top of the standard £12,570 Personal Allowance, giving a combined tax-free amount of £15,820
- Blind Person's Allowance replaces the standard Personal Allowance entirely, giving a flat tax-free amount of £3,250
- Blind Person's Allowance is only available once the standard Personal Allowance has been fully tapered away to zero
- Blind Person's Allowance reduces the standard Personal Allowance pound for pound, leaving the combined allowance unchanged at £12,570
Why A? And why not the others?
Correct answer: A. Blind Person's Allowance of £3,250 is added on top of the standard £12,570 Personal Allowance, giving a combined tax-free amount of £15,820
Blind Person's Allowance for 2026/27 is worth £3,250 and is added on top of the standard Personal Allowance rather than replacing or offsetting it, so a qualifying individual with no allowance to transfer combines £3,250 with the standard £12,570 to get £15,820 of tax-free income before any tax is due, which is what the first option correctly describes. The option claiming it replaces the Personal Allowance entirely is wrong because Blind Person's Allowance is always additive, layering on top of whatever Personal Allowance the individual is otherwise entitled to. The option requiring the standard Personal Allowance to be tapered to zero first is wrong because Blind Person's Allowance is available regardless of income level and regardless of whether any taper applies at all; it has no such precondition. The option describing a pound-for-pound reduction is wrong because there is no mechanism by which claiming Blind Person's Allowance shrinks the standard Personal Allowance — the two allowances simply stack together.
Source: GOV.UK: Blind Person's Allowance — rates and how it's added to your Personal Allowance