Preparing For the End of the Tax Year and Beyond: Essential Tips
Whether you’re self-employed, or looking to make the most of your investments and savings, there are things you can do to minimise the tax on your profits before the end of the tax year.
Before we get into some of those handy tips, we’ve got some key dates for your calendar.
6th April, 2025: First day of the new tax year
This is the first day of the 2025/2026 tax year. Any new tax rules imposed by HMRC come into effect on this day. If you so wish, you can even file your 2024/2025 tax return anytime from this day.
31st July, 2025: Second payment on account
If you’re self-employed, your second payment on account is due by 31st July. Payments on account are forward payments towards next year’s tax bill. They’re intended to help self-employed people with financial planning, by spreading the burden of the upcoming year’s tax bill over a longer period.
5th October, 2025: Deadline for self-assessment registration
If you’re planning on becoming self-employed and it’s your first year doing so, then you have until 5th October to register. HMRC will then give you a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), which you’ll use when filing your return and logging into online services.
31st October, 2025: Deadline for paper submissions
Filing your tax return by paper? You’ll need to do so by 31st October. If you miss this deadline, you’ll need to submit online instead, which gives you until 31st January, 2026.
31st January, 2026: Deadline for online submissions
You have until 31st January, 2026 to file your tax return online for the tax year 2024/2025. You don’t have to wait until this date, however, and it’s wise not to, as you may incur a fine if you’re late.
Now that we’ve got those dates out of the way, let’s look at maximising your wealth.
Use up your ISA allowance
The profits you make from the first £20,000 in your ISA are protected from tax each year. This means that each tax year, you can put up to £20,000 into an ISA (or several ISAs) and shelter your profits from income tax.
The £20,000 limit resets at the start of each new tax year, so on April 6th, and does not carry over. For example, if you invest £10,000 into your ISA in the 2023/24 tax year, your limit resets to £20,000 for the year 2024/25, and is not £30,000.
So, make the most of your allowance before the tax year is up.
Capital at risk. Remember that the value of investments can change, and you could lose money as well as make it. Past performance is not an indicator of future gains. This isn’t personal advice or a recommendation to buy. As always, do your own research.
Exploring NuWealth’s Stocks & Shares ISA is a great place to start, as it gives you access to the stock market at the same time.
Open a Junior ISA (JISA)
Exactly the same rules apply for a Junior ISA (JISA), except the limit is £9,000 per tax year.
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A JISA is a fantastic way of getting kids involved in their money, and to teach them about the importance of building wealth for the long term.
Capital at risk. Remember that the value of investments can change, and you could lose money as well as make it. Past performance is not an indicator of future gains. This isn’t personal advice or a recommendation to buy. As always, do your own research.
It’s easy to open a Junior ISA with NuWealth. You can also transfer one from elsewhere.
Use up your Personal Savings Allowance
If you have savings that are earning interest —like those in one of our GB Bank savings account— then you’ll have a Personal Savings Allowance. You don’t need to apply for this; it just exists, in the same way that your ISA allowance exists.
This is the amount you can earn in interest, tax-free. For basic rate earners (up to £50,000 a year) it’s £1,000. For those earning £50,000 – £150,000) it’s £500. There is no Personal Savings Allowance for people earning more than £150,000 a year.
Make the most of pension contributions
If you make personal pension contributions as a business owner, you might be able to deduct them from your company’s profits before calculating your tax, which could save you more money.
The tax-free limit for paying into your pension is £40,000, or your total earnings, whichever is greater. If you’re employed, HR or payroll will claim back any tax on your contributions. However, if you make those contributions yourself, you’ll need to file a tax return if you want to recoup 20% from the government.
Save on dividend taxes
Similar to a Personal Savings Allowance, you’re allowed to earn up to £500 in dividend profits tax-free. It might not be the biggest money-maker, but it’s worth looking into before the end of the tax year if you want to maximise your profits.
Wisely allocate capital gains and losses
Yes, the government will tax you on just about anything, including stuff you own that you sell for a profit (excluding cars and certain lifespan-limited items). Timing when you sell items to make best use of that tax year can help you to maximise profit.
Let’s say that you bought a painting ten years ago for £20,000 and now want to sell it. You receive £40,000 for your painting, turning a profit of £20,000. Your capital gains tax allowance is £6,000, meaning you’ll pay tax on the remaining £14,000 profit.
But let’s say you also sold another painting at a loss of £4,000. You can deduct this loss from your total gains, meaning your tax liability for that tax year is actually £10,000.
Making sure that you time when you buy and sell assets, therefore, can help you to keep more of your money.
It’s all rather a lot of work, we know. But if you do this every year, and are smart about how you invest what you manage to keep or recoup, the payoff can be handsome in years to come, especially when you factor in compound interest.
As a final reminder, the tax year runs from April 6th to April 5th each year.
