End of Tax Year Planning

Header

It’s that time again! We’re nearly a month into 2025 and I’m sure we’re all looking forward to some better weather and a bit of sunshine. But, in the meantime we can look forward to the end of the 2024/25 tax year on the 5th April. As ever, we want to remind you of the usual allowances and highlight some additional points that we think will be useful.

What are the key planning ideas you should know about?
  • ISAs, JISAs and LISAs (oh my!)
  • Pension contributions
  • IHT Gifting
  • VCT Investments

There is more detail on all of these points HERE.

State Pension Top Up Deadline

We mentioned this a while ago but there is an impending deadline if you are considering topping up your State Pension. After 5th April, it will no longer be possible to fill in gaps in your National Insurance record between April 2006 and April 2016. This will tend to benefit men born after 5th April 1951 and women born after 5th April 1953. If you were born any earlier than that, you are on the ‘old’ State Pension and so this won’t apply. Checking your State Pension forecast is good practice anyway so we would suggest that you run through the process regardless.

  • The first thing you need to do is check to see if you are missing any NI years since 2006 and you can do that here gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record
  • If you have missing years, the next stage is to get your State Pension forecast here gov.uk/check-state-pension
  • If your forecast isn’t for the full £221.20 per week, and you have gaps in your NI record, you might be able to boost years to get the full amount and this can all be done online through the same link.

If you have any questions on this, do get in touch and we’ll be happy to talk you through and advise if it’s something you should consider doing.

What other ideas should I consider?
Salary sacrifice Arrangements
  • If you are employed and your employer offers ‘salary sacrifice’ schemes you could consider using them for benefits such as pension contributions, or cycle-to-work programs. All of these can reduce your taxable income and National Insurance contributions.
Consider your personal allowance
  • Most of us have a personal allowance which is the amount of money you can earn each year without being liable to tax. The personal allowance in the tax year 2024/25 is £12,570 (this does fall away as your income exceeds £100,000).
  • If you’re married or in a civil partnership, you may want to move some of your assets into the name of the person who is the lower-rate taxpayer or who doesn’t work, so you can minimise your tax liability. Additionally, if your income is lower than the personal allowance, the marriage allowance may allow you to transfer up to £1,260 of your personal allowance to a higher earning partner to increase their allowance and save a bit of tax.

The 5th April is a Saturday, and the different platforms have different deadlines for receipt of funds so we would encourage you to be in touch as soon as possible if you are looking to use up your allowances.

We’ll be back in touch before the April deadline, but please do get in contact now if you have any questions or would like to top up your pension or ISAs.

 

Carrington Wealth Management is a trading style of Carrington Investment Consultants Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered office: One Chapel Place, London W1G 0BG. Registered in England, number 3193939. This email and any accompanying documents contain confidential information intended for a specific individual which is private and protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or other use of this information is strictly prohibited. You are also requested to advise us immediately if you receive information which is not addressed to you. IMPORTANT: This publication has been prepared for information purposes only by Carrington Investment Consultants Ltd. The value of investments, and any income generated from them, will be affected by interest rates, exchange rates, general market conditions and other political, social and economic developments, as well as by specific matters relating to the assets in which it invests. Investors should be aware that the value of units may well fall as well as rise, is not guaranteed and that past performance is not a guide to future performance. Different funds carry different levels of risk and investors may not get back the full amount invested. VCTs are specialist investment products that carry a higher level of risk than many other forms of investment. VCTs are a long-term investment with a minimum holding period of five years. An investment into a VCT may ultimately prove to be difficult to sell when you come to dispose of your shares. The levels and bases of reliefs from taxation provided by a VCT may change in future. If a VCT loses HMRC approval, then the tax reliefs you have previously been given may be clawed back. Future changes in legislation may adversely affect the value of an investment into a VCT. The value of investments, and any income generated from them, will be affected by interest rates, exchange rates, general market conditions and other political, social and economic developments, as well as by specific matters relating to the assets in which it invests. Investors should be aware that the value of units may well fall as well as rise, is not guaranteed and that past performance is not a guide to future performance. Different funds carry different levels of risk and investors may not get back the full amount invested. Data Source: Financial Express. Copyright © 2025 Carrington Wealth Management. All rights reserved.