Some married couples and civil partners are entitled to claim the married couple’s allowance (MCA). The MCA was introduced in 1990, as part of a wider tax reform – the establishment of independent taxation. Under this system all taxpayers are assessed on an individual basis; it used to be the case that a married woman’s income was treated as her spouse’s for tax purposes. In April 2000 the MCA was withdrawn from all couples, except those who had already reached the age of 65 or over. This remains the case. As a consequence only those couples in which one partner is now at least 80 years old will be entitled to claim the MCA.