Things you need to do before the end of the tax year.

For those of you who don’t know, the end of the tax year is 5th April. There are some steps we can all be taking to ensure we don’t lose out on any money when that time comes, and to maximise our savings.

ISA Allowance

The biggest thing to take into consideration is your ISA allowance. The amount you can invest into your ISA will rest at the end of each tax year and there is no way of carrying your allowance over to next year, meaning if you don’t use it ….. you lose it! Remember to check and see if you can get a better rate on your Isa accounts.

Remember child trust funds can now be converted to junior ISA’s after years of having savings stuck in an onsolete savings account. ISA’s are much better value than child trust funds. Anybody can put money into a children’s ISA, however the limit is £4,000 per tax year.

Reduce your inheritance tax bill

If you are likely to be hit by the inheritance tax then it may be a good idea to start putting some money away for loved ones now.

You can give up to £5,000 to your child if they get married and this will be exempt from inheritance tax when you die. IHT is currently paid if someone dies leaving an estate worth more than £325,000.

Make use of personal allowances

Transferring your savings into an account of a spouse who pays less tax than you … or no tax at all could cut your income tax bill significantly.

Don’t forget that everyone has an annual capital gains tax allowance. This means you don’t have to pay tax on the first £11,000 of your gains should you sell assets such as property, stocks and shares or other possessions worth over £6,000. Remember you can’t carry one year’s exemption to another.

Check your tax code

I can’t stress enough how important it is for everyone to keep an eye on their tax codes which you will find on your pay slip. You can claim back over payed tax for up to four years,  thousands of people are owed rebates.

CLICK HERE to find out how to check your tax code.