The tax year ends on 5 April. A handful of allowances reset that day and anything you have not used is gone, permanently, with no mechanism to reclaim it.
This is the practical list. It is general information rather than advice, and the figures move, so check the current position before acting.
The ISA allowance
£20,000 across all your ISAs per tax year. It does not carry forward. If you have money sitting in a taxable savings account and unused ISA allowance, moving it before 5 April is usually the single most obvious win on this list.
Note that with interest rates where they have been, far more people now exceed their personal savings allowance than used to, which makes the ISA wrapper worth more than it did a few years ago.
If you have children, the Junior ISA has its own separate allowance which also resets.
Pension contributions
The annual allowance for pension contributions is £60,000 for most people, tapering for higher earners. Unlike the ISA allowance, unused pension allowance can be carried forward for up to three years, so this one is less urgent, but the oldest year drops off each April.
Two things worth checking. Higher and additional rate taxpayers often fail to claim the extra relief they are due, which has to be done through self assessment and is not automatic. And if your income is near £100,000, pension contributions can restore some of the personal allowance that is withdrawn above that threshold, which produces an unusually high effective rate of relief.
Capital gains
The annual exempt amount has been cut sharply over recent years, so gains that used to be covered now are not. If you hold investments outside a pension or ISA, it is worth checking whether realising some gain within the allowance makes sense before it resets.
Married couples and civil partners can transfer assets between themselves without triggering a gain, which effectively lets a couple use both allowances. This is a common and legitimate piece of planning that a lot of people do not know about.
Inheritance tax gifting
The annual exemption is £3,000 a year, and it can be carried forward one year only. So if you did not use last year’s, this is the moment it lapses for good.
There are also smaller exemptions worth knowing: £250 per person to any number of people, and specific allowances for wedding gifts. Regular gifts out of surplus income can also be exempt, but the rules are particular and record-keeping matters, so take advice.
Marriage Allowance
If one partner earns below the personal allowance and the other is a basic rate taxpayer, the lower earner can transfer part of their allowance. It is worth a few hundred pounds a year and can be backdated four years, so a first claim can produce a meaningful lump sum.
It is one of the most under-claimed reliefs in the UK system, largely because nobody tells you about it.
Charitable giving
Gift Aid adds 25p per £1 for the charity. Higher and additional rate taxpayers can claim further relief through self assessment, which many never do.
Donations can also be carried back to the previous tax year in some circumstances, which is occasionally useful.
The admin, not just the money
Alongside the allowances, use the deadline as a prompt for the things that have no deadline and therefore never happen.
Check your pension beneficiary nomination is current. Check your state pension forecast and whether you have gaps in your National Insurance record. Review whether your life cover still matches your circumstances. Look at whether your will still reflects reality.
None of these expire on 5 April. But an annual prompt is how they get done at all.
Where FamilySafe fits
FamilySafe tracks the dates and holds the paperwork, so tax year-end is a review rather than a scramble. Everything in one place, the deadlines flagged in advance and the documents ready to share with an accountant or adviser without emailing them around.
This is general information, not financial or tax advice. Allowances and thresholds change. Check GOV.UK for current figures or speak to a regulated adviser about your circumstances.
