April tax deadline is not far away – there’s still time to act

Time is ticking – although you may think you have plenty of time to sort out with your financial affairs, it will soon be the end of the tax year.

So, if you want to make the most of opportunities to reduce your tax bill, you need to act before the 5 April deadline.

You may wish to check the following:

• If your income exceeds your personal allowance, could you save tax by passing some on to your partner, if it were to fall within their personal allowance?
• Could you top up your pension contributions? Tax relief is available on such contributions
• Have you made use of your annual inheritance tax (IHT) gift exemptions? The general annual gift exemption is £3,000 (plus last year’s £3,000 exemption if you did not use it).
• Have you paid the maximum of £20,000 into your ISA?
• Junior ISAs or Child Trust Fund: Has £9,000 been invested for any child under the age of 18 in the last tax year?
• Lifetime ISAs if you are between the ages of 18 and 40. LISAs enable you to save up to £4,000 each year and receive a Government bonus of 25 per cent on any savings deposited before your fiftieth birthday. Don’t forget if you put away the maximum £4,000 into a LISA, you’ve still got £16,000 worth of annual allowance that you can put in other types of ISA

These are just a few examples of the many savings that can be made by prudent year-end tax planning.

For more information on these and any other tax planning issues, and opportunities that could help you reduce your tax bill, please contact us.