After official figures this week showed that the number of people getting married has fallen to the lowest level since records began in 1862, many couples may be asking themselves whether there is any financial point in tying the knot.

Some of the most obvious tax breaks for married couples have gone, including the married couple's allowance (unless one member of the couple was born before April 6, 1935). But there are still a handful of allowances and options open to married couples that are denied to their unmarried counterparts.

Stephen Herring, of BDO Stoy Hayward, the accountant, says: “The most obvious is the concession on inheritance tax (IHT). When the first member of a married couple dies, any unused part of his or her nil-rate-band exemption of £300,000 can be transferred to the surviving spouse, so a couple's estate can be worth £600,000 before IHT is payable. The same applies to civil partnerships.”

Married couples can also transfer an unlimited amount of assets between each other without any tax charge. This is a great benefit when it comes to planning for capital gains tax (CGT). Any assets carrying gains can be distributed between the husband and wife so that each can make maximum use of their annual CGT allowance (currently £9,200). So if the couple have gains in the current tax year of up to £18,400, they can shield them from CGT by judicious division of their assets.

In the same way, says Mr Herring, married couples can, by transferring assets to each other, preserve any indexation allowance they may have built up, even though indexation relief is being abolished in all other cases from April 6. This juggling of assets can also reduce the amount of income tax a married couple pay. The higher-earning spouse can transfer income-producing investments to the lower or non-earning spouse, who can then pay tax at a reduced or zero rate on any interest or dividends.

Although the married couple's allowance has disappeared for most people, it still applies to couples when the elder spouse was born before April 6, 1935. However, the bonus for being married is not exactly princely. It works out at only 10 per cent of £6,135, or £613.50.

Set against these rewards for tying the knot, there are a number of situations where it is actually a disadvantage to be married. Chas Roy-Chowdhury, of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), says that one area where marriage could be a handicap is small businesses run by two spouses. He says: “This has come about because of the current furore over the Arctic Systems case, where a husband and wife arranged for dividends from their company to be shared equally, thus putting half of their combined income in the hands of the wife, who paid a lower rate of tax. The Revenue believes that where one partner, in this case the higher-earning husband, has brought in most of the business, he should receive most of the profits and thus bear the lion's share of any tax.

“The prevalence of what is known as 'income shifting' between spouses has led to greater scrutiny of husband-and-wife businesses than those where two unrelated individuals set up a company because the Revenue does not think that such unrelated people would be likely to juggle their tax allowances.”

Another situation where being unmarried could prove advantageous is in the taxation of property. John Whiting, of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accountant, says: “If a married couple have two homes, they will find it very difficult to convince the Revenue that they have different principal private residences, so they will only be able to escape CGT on the rise in value of one home rather than two.

“There would be more scope for unmarried couples with two properties to argue that each had a different principal private residence and therefore avoid CGT on both.”

Mike Warburton, of Grant Thornton, another accountant, says: “It appears that the tax system favours marriage, but only for the elderly. There is still such a thing as the married couple's allowance, but it only applies when one member of the couple is aged at least 72. It is of no help to young couples bringing up families. In the same way, the IHT concession for married spouses is welcome, but is something people tend to start thinking about when they reach their sixties or seventies.”