Welcome to This Is Money Podcast.

I'm Simon Lambert and you are listening to an extra special bonus edition of the podcast where we're going to discuss what people need to do before the tax year ends.

The calendar days are flipping past, the clock is ticking, and if you're one of those organized people

who's got everything sorted, well then you're fine. But if you're not like the rest of us,

then you've only got a few weeks to go. And what makes things slightly harder this year is the

Easter falls just before the end of the tax year. But fear not, we're going to

explain exactly what you need to know and what you need to do. And I'm joined today by Rob

Morgan of Charles Stanley Direct, who's going to help us out. Rob, welcome to the podcast.

Thanks for having me on. So let's have a quick look overall to begin with.

What are the important allowances that people need to know about and why does the tax

year end matter so much to them?

Yes, there is, there's quite a lot of fuss about the end of the tax year and sometimes

I think we sound a bit like broken records

in the financial industry. But it is actually really, really important because it's when

the various tax allowances reset and a very big part of investing and personal finances

generally is keeping things tax

efficient so you get to keep more of your returns. And time and again, we see investors kind of

fixating on the investment side of the equation without actually thinking enough about the

tax efficiency side. So April 5th, end of the tax year, and that's the final day before those tax

allowances and exemptions refresh. And as you say, some people might have these things in hand

already or they have an advisor to take care of things for them, but for others, it's the last

opportunity really to get their ducks in a row.

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