Personal and family planning Check your PAYE tax code HMRC changes PAYE tax codes dynamically when your salary changes, but it can’t easily distinguish between a temporary increase, such as a bonus, and a permanent pay change. Your tax code may also include estimated amounts of savings income, based on what you received in an earlier year. Check your PAYE code by signing in to your personal tax account at http://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account and use the options there to amend any estimated income and correct any other errors. Transfer some of your unused personal allowance Married couples and civil partners can transfer 10% of their personal allowance between them (£1,260 for 2023/24), providing an overall tax saving for the couple. This transfer is not permitted if the recipient pays tax at a rate higher than the basic rate of 20% (higher than the intermediate rate of 21% for Scottish taxpayers). You can backdate a claim for up to four years, so a claim made by 5 April 2024 can include 2019/20. KEY GUIDE | April 2019 | Tax Planning Tips 3 TAX PLANNING TIPS | May 2023 Check the level of national insurance contributions (NICs) you pay If you have two or more concurrent jobs you may pay more NICs than you have to. You can reclaim any overpaid NICs from HMRC after the end of the tax year. However, you can prevent the overpayment occurring in the first place by deferring payment of NICs on one of your jobs by sending HMRC a completed form CA72A (either online or by post) by 14 February in the tax year, but ideally earlier. Top-up your state pension entitlement Check your NIC record for your entire working life in your personal tax account at http://www.gov.uk/personal-taxaccount. If there are gaps in that record you may not be entitled to the full state pension. Until 31 July 2023 you can fill any gaps in the NICs paid since April 2006 by paying voluntary class 3 NICs. After that date only gaps arising in the past six years can be filled in this way. If you and your partner both own homes when you marry or enter a civil partnership, choose which will be your main home Once married, you can have only one main home between you for tax purposes. If you both own separate properties which you continue to occupy for some periods, nominate the one that is likely to make the best use of your capital gains tax (CGT) main residence exemption. This needs to be done within two years of your marriage/civil partnership, otherwise HMRC will designate the property that you occupy for the majority of your time as your main residence. EXAMPLE Leila receives an annual salary of £45,000. Her husband has no taxable income, so doesn’t use his personal allowance. For 2023/24, they could save tax of £252 (£1,260 at 20%) by transferring 10% of the husband’s personal allowance to Leila. Tip If a property has been your nominated main home at any time, the gain for the last nine months of ownership is exempt from CGT.
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