According to Independent Financial Advice Promotion (IFAP), there are 4 main ways in which people are missing out on tax breaks, and end up paying too much tax:
- Failing to claim tax credits they are entitled to.
- Forgetting to make simple IHT planning steps, such as writing life insurance into trust.
- Non-taxpayers failing to claim back tax deducted from interest on savings.
- Self assessment taxpayers missing the 31 January deadline for submitting their returns and automatically triggering £100 fine.
According to their recent press release, U.K. adults will waste £7.6 billion in tax this year. They’ve put together a new website, Take Tax Action, which includes a calculator to discover how much you might be wasting in tax, and also ten ways to save tax. These include:
- If you save: use up your annual ISA allowance
- If you are eligible: claim your tax credits
- Maximise your personal tax allowances
- If you have assets over £275,000: plan your inheritance
Are you guilty of paying too much tax?
This post forms part of the Money Saving March series.