Waiting for spring to spring? Be proactive

With the hope of spring in the air, why not take the opportunity to focus on your finances before the end of the tax year? Double-check you’ve taken advantage of the tax-efficient allowances available; we’re on hand to get you organised in good time.

Here’s a reminder of some of your main tax planning opportunities:

• Pensions – current Annual Allowance of £40,000 (for every £2 of adjusted income over £240,000, an individual’s Annual Allowance is reduced by £1, the minimum Annual Allowance will be £4,000) and Lifetime Allowance £1,073,100

• Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) – maximum annual contribution of £20,000 per adult

• Junior Individual Savings Allowances (JISAs) – maximum annual contribution of £9,000 per child

• Gifting for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes – up to £3,000 a year (some other exempted/small gifts allowable)

• Using Capital Gains Tax (CGT) allowances – £12,300 annual exemption per person, £6,150 for trusts – (currently under review, correct at time of publication)

• Enterprise Investment Schemes (EISs) – maximum investment of £2,000,000, relief on investments in certain unquoted trading companies, up to £1m per annum (or £2m as long as at least £1m of this is invested in knowledge intensive companies)

• Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) – maximum annual investment of £200,000, relief on investment in certain qualifying companies.

The value of investments and income from them may go down. You may not get back the original amount invested.