Tax Freedom Day

ALL TAXPAYERS: Maximise your personal tax allowances - £443 million goes begging each year, £315 million through non-taxpayers failing to claim tax back on banks and building society savings accounts, and a further £128 million by taxpayers not transferring savings accounts to non-taxpaying spouses, if appropriate, so that the tax liability on the savings is lower, or none.

IF YOU HAVE ASSETS OF MORE THAN £255,000: Plan your inheritance - an extra £1,213 million could go to chosen heirs by planning properly to avoid inheritance tax liabilities. This is lost through not writing life assurance policies in trust, not thinking about inheritance tax allowances and, worst of all, by not making a will at all.

IF YOU SAVE: Top up your pension pot - £683 million could be spared by optimising contributions to personal or company pension schemes, or making Additional Voluntary Contributions.

IF YOUR EMPLOYER OFFERS AN EMPLOYEE SHARE PLAN: Take advantage of it - £158 million is up for grabs for the 750,000 staff currently in Profit Related Pay schemes.

IF YOU HAVE CAPITAL GAINS: Use your allowance efficiently, perhaps by transferring assets between spouses to make the most of the lower rate taxpayer - £230 million could be saved in this way.

IF YOU GIVE TO CHARITY: £359 million more could go to good causes by using tax-efficient means of charitable giving, ie using a deed of covenant, Gift Aid or payroll giving.

Likewise the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is warning people that they should avoid paying unecessary tax.

Head of Tax, Chas Roy-Chowdhury said: "Taxpayers should now ensure that their tax codes are correct and that they are not missing out on any tax breaks.To help taxpayers in this aim, ACCA has prepared a number of tax tips."

ACCA's Top Ten Tax Tips

If you are a homeowner with a spare room, you may be able to benefit from the Government's 'rent a room' scheme, whereby homeowners can charge rent of up to £4,250 tax free, within a given tax year. The rent charges have to remain below the £4,250 threshold if the payments received are to be completely non-taxable, and amounts above this are taxed. However, where one spouse who rents out the room in a jointly owned property does not work, that person will still have his or her personal allowance to set off against the taxable part of the income.

Employees who have flexible working arrangements with their employers and work from home, need to consider their tax positions if the companies agree to pay for the home telephone bills. Claims can only be made for the cost of business calls and not on the line rental or other fixed charges. Reimbursed costs of private calls will be classed as a taxable benefit.

Self-employed people who work from home could be missing out on significant tax savings by not claiming their full expenses entitlement. Many people who run their businesses from rooms in their homes are unaware that they are eligible to claim a proportion of the household expenses, such as heating, lighting and telephone calls, against their business income. Any eligible expenses can be claimed through the Self Assessment tax return. The amount which can be claimed for heat and light, for example, is the proportion of the bill calculated on the basis of the number of rooms used for the business against the total number of rooms in the house.

If you are self-employed, make sure you register as such with the Inland Revenue within the first three months, otherwise you could be liable for a £100 fine.

If you are a self-assessment tax payer, make sure you pay on time, and avoid the fine incurred for late payment. Make sure you know when the deadlines fall. You should also consider paying via BACS. This provides you with greater control over your finances, allowing you to indicate the exact day on which you would like your tax payment to leave your bank account. For more information on self-assessment, visit the Inland Revenue website, at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk, or call the Inland Revenue's Self-Assessment helpline on 0845 9 000 444.

Complete your tax returns by 30 September and the Inland Revenue will calculate your tax bill for you.

There are tax benefits to be gained if you are married. With Inheritance Tax (IHT), the transfer of assets between spouses is exempt. Individuals should ensure that they transfer assets inter-spouse in order to optimise their use of their zero rate tax allowance band - called the Nil Rate Band. Each spouse has £263,000 Nil Rate Band.

Similarly, inter-spouse transfers are tax exempt for Capital Gains Tax
(CGT). Spouses should transfer assets to each other to ensure that they maximise the use of their annual allowance, known as the annual exemption (AE), so that they each use up their £8,200 AE before paying any tax.

So clearly taking tax action need not be a painful task, and the rewards are worth it.

To find an independent financial adviser all you need to do is type your postcode into our simple tool.

Or if you prefer to use an account for more information and on other tax issues specific to your individual circumstances use the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants' website, at >www.accaglobal.com

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