FEBRUARY 2024 GLENFIELD GAZETTE ONLINE

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FEBRUARY 2024 GLENFIELD GAZETTE
PO Box 8, Markfield,
Leics. LE67 9ZT
Tel: 0116 287 3122
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The Glenfield Gazette is a monthly
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Gazette.
We’re fast approaching the end of the 2023-24
tax year on 5 April. It’s not exactly a time for
champagne and resolutions, but you could save
or make money if you meet the deadline for
several allowances and claims.
If you’re an employee and you’ve overpaid on
PAYE, for example, through a tax code error,
you have four years to reclaim the money.
That means 5 April is the deadline for claims
regarding the 2019-20 tax year. The same
timescale applies to reclaiming overpayments
on self-assessment.
As a sole trader, 5 April simply marks the end of
the tax year for self-assessment purposes, with
the filing deadlines not until 31 October for paper
forms and 31 January 2025 for online filing, and
the payment deadline 31 January in both cases.
However, if you operate as a company, the filing
deadline is one year after the end of your chosen
accounting year. If you use the common 6 Aprilto-5
April schedule, that deadline is looming for
your 2022-23 tax return.
The tax year deadline also marks the last chance
to take advantage of several annual allowances
for saving and investing. For example, the annual
limit for putting money into tax-free ISAs is
£20,000, of which a maximum of £4,000 can go
to a Lifetime ISA. If you are close to this limit and
have money available, consider whether to max
out your allowance rather than wait till next year.
You can’t carry over unused allowances.
If you’re thinking of saving for a child, you may
want to open a Junior ISA by 5 April. That way
you’ll get an extra year to take advantage of the
annual allowance of £9,000.
Anyone who sells something at a profit (including
shares and many other financial assets) has to
pay capital gains tax on profits above an annual
allowance. The allowance dropped significantly
last year and is now only £6,000.
That means that if you’re planning to sell or
dispose of an asset, you should think carefully
about when to sell it, which may reduce your
tax liabilities. With shares, you may want to
sell some now and then sell the rest in the new
tax year. Remember that shares are inherently
risky, so changes in their market price could
significantly affect your overall position whenever
you choose to sell.
The pension contributions annual allowance also
expires on 5 April. With the standard allowance
being £60,000 it’s not a problem most of us will
worry about, but those with the money available
should get expert advice on whether and how to
take advantage.
Finally, 5 April may be your last chance to use
the annual gift allowance regarding inheritance.
The ‘annual exemption’ means you can give
away up to £3,000 a year, either to one person
or split across multiple people. As long as you
live for another seven years, the amount won’t
attract inheritance tax. You can carry any unused
allowance over to the next tax year, but not into
any following years after that.
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