The UK tax year ends on 5 April. That date matters more than most investors realise \u2014 several valuable allowances reset, and opportunities that expire can’t be recovered. Here are seven things worth doing before the deadline.<\/p>\n
The Annual Exempt Amount can’t be carried forward. If you have unrealised gains sitting in your portfolio, consider selling enough to use the \u00a33,000. Selling \u00a33,000 of gains tax-free every year is much better than letting them accumulate and paying CGT on a lump sum later.<\/p>\n
As the MHA Insights report on CGT 2026<\/a> notes, “it may be beneficial for tax purposes to realise gains each year to the extent of the annual allowance.” It’s the simplest CGT planning move there is.<\/p>\n If you’re married, your spouse has their own \u00a33,000 exemption. Consider transferring assets to your spouse<\/a> before selling \u2014 that’s \u00a36,000 of gains tax-free between you.<\/p>\n If you hold investments that are underwater, selling them before 5 April creates allowable losses<\/a> that offset gains. This is straightforward \u2014 but watch the 30-day bed and breakfast rule<\/a>. If you rebuy the same shares within 30 days, the loss gets matched to the new purchase rather than being usable.<\/p>\n Sell the losing position, then either wait 31 days to rebuy, or buy a similar (but not identical) fund immediately. Sold a FTSE 100 tracker? Buy a FTSE All-Share tracker instead. Different securities \u2014 no 30-day match.<\/p>\n The \u00a320,000 ISA allowance resets on 6 April. Unused allowance is gone forever. According to HMRC’s ISA rules<\/a>, you can’t carry unused allowance forward.<\/p>\n If you have cash sitting in a GIA or bank account, get it into the ISA before the deadline. If you have investments in a GIA with modest gains, a bed and ISA<\/a> \u2014 sell in GIA, repurchase in ISA \u2014 shelters future growth permanently. See our ISA vs GIA comparison<\/a> for why this matters.<\/p>\n Transfers between spouses are at “no gain, no loss” under TCGA 1992 s.58<\/a>. If your spouse is in a lower tax band or has unused exemption, transferring assets before selling can save real money.<\/p>\n A higher-rate taxpayer transferring shares to a basic-rate spouse saves 6 percentage points on CGT (24% vs 18%). On a \u00a310,000 gain, that’s \u00a3600.<\/p>\n2. Harvest losses<\/h2>\n
3. Max out your ISA<\/h2>\n
4. Transfer assets to your spouse<\/h2>\n
5. Check your reporting obligation<\/h2>\n