Top 10 Personal Tax Tips

Tips to help save tax and penalties from Tax


1. Be aware of your Tax Situation. Learn a bit about taxation it may save you money over the years. Don't put off looking into tax, even if you dislike the ida.


2. ISA Accounts. Interest you receive is generally liable for taxation unless you save in an ISA. So save in an ISA, up to £3000 each tax year can be saved, you can get instant access, a good rate of interest and don’t have to give a % to the tax man.


3. Gross Interest. Because interest received is generally taxable the tax man has arranged to take his cut before you get your interest. Banks and building societies take tax off your interest automatically. If you have low income or don’t pay income tax then register with your bank to get ‘Gross’ interest – that is interest with out tax.

4. Ask For Refund. If you haven’t registered for gross interest or think you have paid too much tax then ask your tax inspector for a refund at the end of the tax year 5th April.


5. Share Personal Allowances. Everyone has a personal tax allowance. This is the amount of income you can have without paying any tax. Make sure any interest received is paid to the partner with unused allowances.

6. Check Tax Code. The Inland Revenue make lots of mistakes so check you tax code. This is used by your employer to calculate how much tax to deduct form your wages. Guidance is available on www.hmrc.gov.uk understanding your P2 PAYE Coding Notice.

7. Changed Circumstances. If your circumstances have changed since completing a tax return tell the revenue.

8. Special Tax exemptions. There aren’t many special allowances or expenses but professional subscriptions, union agreed trade allowances and some ex-gracia expenses are allowed against tax if you claim them.

9. Avoid Penalties. Send in you tax return promptly and avoid penalties. If you do get a penalty, contact them to ask for a refund, perhaps it got lost in the post.

10. Sundry Income. Sundry income from Ebay or auction sales for example is not taxable if you are just having a one off sale but is taxable if you are running a business or getting regular income.

see also: Improve credit rating

UK Tax

Top 10 Mortgage Tips

Advice on getting the best out of your mortgage and help on getting your first mortgage

1. Save a deposit. If you can save or borrow 5% of your house price then most mortgage deals will become much more attractive. Generally 100% mortgages are more expensive and you may also have to pay mortgage indemnity insurance. If it is difficult to save for your first mortgage consider a loan from friend or parents to get you on the mortgage ladder.

Read: top 10 Mortgage Tips

see also: Top 10 UK Mortgage Lenders

Improving your credit rating - Top Ten Tips

1. Get hold of your credit report and check it for accuracy. Your credit report holds all details about different loans and repayment histories. Lenders use this when deciding whether to make loans or not. If you see anything is wrong inform the relevant authorities and seek for it to be amended.

2. Be careful about apply jointly for loans with other who have a bad credit rating. This will adversely affect your own chance of getting the loan.

3. Manage finances carefully. Always seek to avoid making late payments. For example a good piece of advice is to set up monthly direct debits which pay the minimum balance on your credit cards.

4. Communicate with your bank and loan companies. Banks are not as bad as we might fear. If we are suffering temporary difficulties it is worth speaking to them to try and arrange a temporary overdraft or loan. Arranged overdrafts and loans may incur interest but they do not adversely affect your credit rating.

5. If by accident or chance you do make a late payment on any loan. The first thing to do is to send the payment straight away. Then you should contact the financial institution and ask them very kindly to consider forgiving your transgression. You may be surprised at how often they are willing to make exceptions. You could always use the excuse “it got lost in the post”

6. Protect your identity. Identity theft in the UK is a growing problem in the UK. According to the government it costs £1.7bn, though this may be an understatement. Take steps to avoid your identity being stolen. If there are any problems make sure it hasn’t unfairly affected your credit rating. Stop identity theft

7. Don’t bother with credit repair companies. This is nothing that legally they can do to change your credit rating.

8. Consolidate loans. Consolidate your loans into the lowest interest bearing one possible. This makes it easier to keep track of payments and will also save you interest payments

9. Avoid overspending. Unfortunately the easiest way to protect your credit rating is to be frugal and careful in your spending so that you don’t go into debt in the first place.

10. Always tell the truth. If you lie on forms you will be found out, and this will count against you.



See also Ten steps to a better credit rating at Moneyfacts

Top 10 Financial Tips for saving Money

1. Avoid Late Payment Penalties. Don’t be hit by penalties for late payment. Make sure you always pay off at least the minimum on your credit cards. A good tip is to set up a direct debit so that your payment can never get delayed in the post.

2. Arrange Overdrafts First. If you are going to go overdrawn try to arrange an official overdraft or take out an emergency loan. This will save a lot of money in penalty charges. Also it will protect your credit rating.

3. Don’t accept penalty payments. If you do miss a payment by mistake or go slightly overdrawn then the bank might agree to give you the benefit of the doubt. If you have been charged; the first thing to do is to write to the bank or phone and explain there was an unfortunate mix-up, due to getting lost in the post (or some other excuse) the payment was unfortunately late. Quite often the banks will agree to retract the penalty charge and not harm your credit rating. The important thing is that it is always worth trying, banks do actually want to create a good brand image, (even if it might not seem like it all the time)

4. Move Credit Cards to 0% interest. If you have a credit card debt, the standard rate will probably be over 15%. However many credit card companies offer 0% balance transfers for the first 6 or 9 months. This is definitely worth doing. When the 6-month period ends, just move it to another credit card company. Some credit card companies may have a 2% balance transfer charge. However this would still work out at an average annual interest payment of 3% (on a 9 month balance transfer) so is definitely better than staying at 17%.

5. Move Debt to Lowest interest Rate. If you are unable to do the above, at least move your debt to the lowest paying interest account. If you are paying interest on a credit card at over 15% there is probably a much cheaper way of borrowing money. Take out a personal loan, which may be half the cost. If you are a homeowner, consider Remortgaging or taking out a loan secured against the value of the house.

6. Try to limit your debt. Look for manageable ways to reduce unnecessary outgoings. Try to budget your spending so that you don’t spend excessively. It is quite easy to underestimate how much you spend on going out, buying clothes e.t.c. It is worth keeping track of knowing how much you spend. Often when people realise how much they spend on takeaways, clothes e.t.c it is quite a shock and they wish to reduce their spending. Don’t live in denial about your high spending habits.

7. Find Best Deals. Take time to search for the best deal. For things like utility bills you can probably save significant amounts of money by switching to a cheaper deal. Use the Internet to find the best deals available online.

8. Small savings add up. If you pay your bills by direct debit, usually you get a small discount. Also some firms encourage you to switch to paperless bills, e.g. BT give a small saving (25p) for doing this. All these small savings combined can make a big difference.

9. Avoid Impluse Buying. Before buying something ask yourself “Do I really need this”. If you find your shopping can easily get out of hand. Try to ask yourself “how often will I use this?” If you can sincerely say that you will use it / wear it often then it will be a good purchase. However if you already have 88 pair of shoes, you have to be honest with yourself and say maybe the 89th pair isn’t of the highest priority.

11. Don’t have kids… children will cost you an average of £200,000 each during their stay at home, not to mention the endless taxi services. Of course non-economists may say finance isn’t the only important thing in life…

All these things can help you save money, reducing your financial stress and allowing you to enjoy the things that really matter.