As the end of the tax year is nearly upon us, now is the time to be thinking about what action can be taken to assist in reducing tax liabilities for the year ended 5 April 2019.
Ensuring that all the appropriate reliefs and allowances have been used should always be a priority as many of these are lost if not used each tax year. In addition investing in tax efficient products or considering the timing of income and expenses, to name but a few, can also be ways to minimise tax liabilities.
Some examples of where planning can make all the difference are:-
- Reducing taxable income by making gift aid donations or changing the nature of investments i.e. invest in ISA’s or investment bonds to preserve personal allowances or child benefit.
- Alongside the above, review pension contributions to see whether there are any unused allowances from previous years which could be used to make a higher contribution before 5 April 2019 to help reduce taxable income.
- Make sure that, where possible, the savings allowance and dividend allowance are used. The savings allowance allows interest of £1,000 for a basic rate payer and £500 for a higher rate tax payer to be paid tax free. In addition dividends up to £2,000 will be liable to tax at 0%.
- Married couples or civil partners should review whether the conditions are met to be able to transfer some of the personal allowance to a spouse or civil partner.
You also need to be mindful of upcoming changes such as increases in allowances and changes that are being phased in such as the rate of tax relief available on loan interest and the residential nil rate band for inheritance tax.
Our useful generic Year-End Tax Planning Guide can be found here
If you would like to discuss this or any other tax planning further please do not hesitate to contact us.