A new tax year is the ideal time to review your financial position and a key area to consider is maximising all available tax allowances.
Income Tax
The personal allowance remains frozen at £12,570 until April 2028, continuing the policy of fiscal drag and higher-rate tax payers should be particularly vigilant.
There are many areas that could be considered here, for example, if your income is above £60,000 and you have or live with someone with children, you could be subject to the High-Income Child Benefit Charge.
Bringing your taxable income down could reduce or even eliminate that charge.
There are similar opportunities above the £100,000 threshold, when the phasing out of the personal allowance begins, and also at the additional tax threshold for those earning £125,140 and over.
You may consider, for example, salary sacrifice arrangements or making additional pension contributions or charitable gifts to reduce your taxable income.
Inheritance Tax allowances
With the basic Inheritance Tax (IHT) threshold now frozen at £325,000 until 2028, it’s expected that many more people will be caught out by IHT over the coming years, as estate values rise, supported by increased property prices over many years and/or investment returns.
Currently, you can make annual gifts (up to £3,000 per year) and regular gifts out of disposable income, and you also have the ability to make any larger lifetime gifts to help reduce your IHT liability.
However, the rules around IHT can be complex, and the amount of tax, and even the overall rate that will be paid, will depend on how your finances are structured during your lifetime, how you dispose of your assets, and to whom you leave them.
Seeking independent tax and financial advice can help you pass your assets to the people you want to benefit and potentially mitigate some or all of the IHT liability.
Capital Gains Tax (CGT)
The annual CGT exempt amount remains at £3,000 for individuals, but the Autumn Budget announced changes to the rate of tax, which increased from 10% to 18% for basic rate taxpayers, and from 18% to 24% for higher rate taxpayers.
If you are considering disposing of assets or investments, spreading disposals across tax years will enable you to utilise multiple annual exemptions, where possible.
Pension annual allowance
The annual allowance – the maximum amount of pension savings you can make each year and still receive tax relief – is currently £60,000.
Carry forward allows you to make use of any annual allowance that you might not have used during the three previous tax years, provided that you were a member of a registered pension scheme during the relevant time period.
You have until the end of the current tax year to use this past allowance or lose it completely.
Meanwhile, higher earners should be particularly mindful of the tapered annual allowance which can reduce the £60,000 allowance to as low as £10,000.
Unsurprisingly, there are specific rules, and the calculations can quickly become complex, so getting advice is crucial if maximising “today’s” pension tax relief is important to you.
ISA allowances
Maximise your annual tax-free allowance – currently £20,000 per person per year or £9,000 for Junior ISAs – to benefit from tax-free growth for longer. If you have taken any money out of your ISA, you can still replace it during the current tax year, and it won’t affect your current year’s allowance.
Year-round tax planning
Effective tax planning is a year-round process.
By taking a proactive approach to your financial planning for the new tax year – maximising available tax allowances in addition to reviewing your investment strategy, understanding legislative changes, reassessing your budget, financial plans and emergency fund, and tax planning for the future – you can protect and enhance your wealth position.
