The new 2025/26 tax year is upon us, which means savers have a renewed £20,000 ISA allowance. According to experts, the earlier you invest in the new financial year, the better.
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The starting pistol has been fired on the new tax year, and this is your chance to get off to a flying start and stay one step ahead of a tax bill. There are all sorts of opportunities you can snap up in the early days to cut your taxes in the current tax year – and beyond. Recent market falls could make some of these moves even more rewarding.”
Tips for early bird investors
Use your ISA allowances early
If you have assets outside an ISA, then the earlier in the tax year you can move up to £20,000 worth of them inside the wrapper, the better. You can use the Bed and ISA process (share exchange) to make it straightforward.
It means you’re protected from dividend tax before those investments have time to deliver a dividend. If you have a year of growth ahead, it also means those investments are building capital gains within a tax wrapper rather than outside it.
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Coles said: “Recent market falls could make it a sensible time to make the move, as you can shift more of your investments without busting the capital gains tax allowance.
“If you’re planning to give assets to your spouse, so they can take advantage, then the same applies, so you should get cracking with any plans to Bed & Spouse & ISA.”
Make changes to regular payments
It’s a good idea to revisit regular monthly payments into a stocks and shares ISA every year, to see whether you could afford to increase those payments.
The earlier you do this in the tax year, the more of your annual allowance you might be able to take advantage of.
Recent market falls make regular investing even more rewarding, because some of those monthly investments will be made while markets are cheaper, so you can benefit from any recovery.
Take stock of the impact of fiscal drag
Coles said: “It’s always going to be difficult to predict whether you’re going to get a pay rise, and if so, how big it will be. However, it’s worth making an estimate and checking whether this will take you over a tax threshold into paying a higher rate of tax.
“If this is the case, you can consider whether it’s worth increasing pension payments now to keep your income below the threshold. You can also consider a cash ISA or a stocks and shares ISA, to help stop your savings and investment income pushing you over a threshold.”
Defer income as soon as possible
If there’s a time when you expect to be paying a lower rate of tax, consider whether you can take income then rather than now. You can, for example, use fixed-term savings that pay interest annually, instead of easy access paying more frequently.
This often makes sense just before retirement. If this money is currently sitting in accounts paying interest in the current tax year, then from a tax perspective, the sooner you move them, the better.
Make gifts
If you’re concerned about inheritance tax, then you have your inheritance tax gifting allowances to use any time during the year. However, other rules are worth exploiting as early as possible.
Coles said: “If you want to give larger gifts that you expect to drop out of your estate after seven years, then starting now will mean you can get the clock ticking now.
“If you are giving gifts to children under the age of 18, you will also have their full annual Junior ISA allowance to take advantage of at the start of the new tax year – so you can make the gift today, but it will be tied up until they can make adult decisions with it.”
Plan your pension income
If you’re taking income drawdown in irregular chunks, it’s a good idea to consider your needs throughout the year, so you can take a sensible level of income, and possibly plan to avoid breaching a painful income tax threshold.
If you know you will need to withdraw a lump sum for a one-off purchase during the year, which would push you over a tax threshold, this is also an opportunity to consider the alternatives. You might, for example, have ISAs you can draw on instead, so some of your income in retirement for that year can be tax-free.
