1. Open or top up your ISA

You can hold up to £20,000 in your ISA in the 2023/2024 tax year and split the contribution, between either a Cash ISA or Stocks and Shares ISA.

2. Use your pension allowance

Usually if you’re under 75 can contribute to a pension and receive income tax relief, up to 45%. You can contribute your total salary or £60,000, whichever is the lesser amount, down to £3,600.

3. Review your State Pension National Insurance contributions

The amount of State Pension you’ll get depends on how many ‘qualifying’ years of National Insurance payments you have. Review your National Insurance contributions that you pay when you are working and see if you can top it up.

4. Open or top up a Junior ISA

You can add up to £9,000 into a Junior ISA in the 2023/2024 tax year, until the child turns 18. Like normal ISAs, you can choose between a Cash ISA or Stocks & Shares.

5. The capital gains tax allowance is £6,000 for the 2023/2024 tax year.

This means if you make gains on assets over the value of £6,000 annually, you’ll be required to pay capital gains tax on the excess amount at their marginal tax rate.

6. Match Capital Gains and Losses in the same tax year to reduce CGT liability.

Capital gains and losses incurred in the same tax year are offset against each other. This includes reducing gains down to zero even though some of the gain would otherwise have been covered by the annual exemption.

7. Consider VCTs and EISs

VCTs are sophisticated, long-term investments offering the chance to invest in small, fast growing UK companies. In return for the extra risk, you can receive a tax relief of up to 30%.

Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment. You may not be able to access your money easily and are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong.

8. Reduce your Inheritance Tax liability

You can gift up to £3,000, known as the annual allowance, and use previous unused annual allowance once. Gifts over £3,000 are known as Potentially Exempt Transfers (PET) and free of inheritance tax if the individual survives seven years.

Planning now allows you to make smart decisions throughout the year that will benefit you and your family’s financial future.

An ISA is a medium to long term investment, which aims to increase the value of the money you invest for growth or income or both. The value of your investments and any income from them can fall as well as rise. You may not get back the amount you invested.

HM Revenue and Customs practice and the law relating to taxation are complex and subject to individual circumstances and changes which cannot be foreseen.

Approved by The Openwork Partnership on 12-2-2024