It’s never too early to start preparing for the end of the tax year, or to begin making plans for the new one.

If you have some last-minute financial decisions to make before 6 April, we’re on hand to help. We can also help you bring in 2026/27 in the best possible financial shape.

Keep reading to find out how.

Making the most of your ISA Allowance

Before tax year end

ISAs are tax-efficient. You don’t pay tax on the interest you earn in a Cash ISA, while Stocks and Shares ISA gains are free of Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax (CGT).

For the 2025/26 tax year, you can pay up to £20,000 into the ISAs you hold. Contributing up to this amount (if you can afford to) allows you to take full advantage of the benefits of this tax wrapper. 

Be sure to check in with any Junior ISAs (JISAs) you opened on behalf of your children. These have a separate £9,000 JISA Allowance for the 2025/26 tax year, so consider maxing this out too.

ISA Allowances reset on 6 April, so if you don’t use your allowance, you lose it.

At the start of the new tax year

The ISA Allowance remains at £20,000 for 2026/27, but from April 2027, an effective cap on Cash ISA holdings will come into force for those below the age of 65. This means that 2026/27 could be the last year you can make full use of your £20,000 Cash ISA Allowance.

Planning at the start of the tax year means that you don’t need to rush to find a lump sum payment in March 2027. Making regular payments into a Stocks and Shares ISA from early in the tax year will hopefully also give these funds longer to benefit from both investment growth and compounding.

In fact, MoneyWeek recently reported that investing at the end of the tax year each time could cost you £123,000 in lost investment gains over the course of 20 years.

Topping up your pensions 

Before tax year end

Your pensions are also tax-efficient. You receive tax relief on the contributions you make, applied automatically at 20%. If you’re a higher- or additional-rate taxpayer, though, you can claim an extra 20% or 25% through Self Assessment.

You can benefit from tax relief on contributions up to 100% of your earnings, but you should also be aware of the Annual Allowance. For 2025/26, this stands at £60,000, so consider topping up your pension this month to use as much of your Annual Allowance as you can afford.

At the start of the new tax year

As with ISA investing, planning early in the new tax year should allow you to decide how much you can contribute each month to make the most of your Annual Allowance. And remember, if you’ve used up your allowance, you might consider paying into a partner’s or a child’s pension on their behalf.

Unlike the ISA Allowance, you can carry forward unused Annual Allowance for up to 12 months, so consider the contributions you made in the previous tax year too.

Capital Gains Tax Annual Exempt Amount

You may have to pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT) if you sell (or “dispose of”) certain assets on which you have made a profit. But CGT is only applicable if the gain exceeds your Annual Exempt Amount, which stands at £3,000 for 2025/26.

The main CGT rates for 2025/26 stand at:

• Lower rate (18%)
• Higher rate (24%).

Check in with any potential sales and decide whether you might exceed the £3,000 exemption. If so, you might be better off timing disposals so that gains are made on either side of the tax year, effectively giving yourself two Annual Exempt Amounts.

Get in touch

Making the most of allowances before tax year end can be incredibly tax-efficient, as well as putting you on a firm financial footing as we head into the new tax year. We’re ready to help, so contact us now. 

Please get in touch at info@macfp.co.uk or call 01349 832849 to see how we can help you in the approach to the new tax year and beyond. 

Please note

This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.

The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up, and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Investments should be considered over the longer term and should fit in with your overall attitude to risk and financial circumstances.