UK Tax Year End Checklist (2026/27)

The UK tax year ends on 5 April. 8 allowances and deadlines to check for 2026/27: ISA £20k, pension £60k, CGT £3k, Marriage Allowance £252, Gift Aid.

2026/27 tax year

Income Tax & Allowances
Personal
UK-wide

The UK tax year ends on 5 April. Several personal allowances are use-it-or-lose-it: anything unused on 5 April is gone for that year. The following eight items cover the allowances and deadlines worth reviewing between January and March. Every figure below is the 2026/27 amount, with the gov.uk sources listed at the end of the page.

None of this is tax advice. Allowances and reliefs vary with personal circumstances - this is a structural checklist of the tax-year-end moves available to UK residents under current HMRC rules.

1. Use your £20,000 ISA allowance

Adults resident in the UK get a £20,000 Individual Savings Account (ISA) allowance per tax year, split however they choose across Cash, Stocks and Shares, Innovative Finance and Lifetime ISAs (with a £4,000 limit on the Lifetime ISA, which you must open before age 40). Interest, dividends and capital gains inside an ISA are free of Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax, and do not need to be declared on Self Assessment. Unused allowance does not carry forward: anything not paid in by 5 April is lost.

How to action it: contribute through any ISA provider before 5 April. See the UK ISA allowance explainer for account-type comparison and the Lifetime ISA detail.

2. Top up your pension toward the £60,000 annual allowance

The standard pension annual allowance is £60,000 for 2026/27, covering combined employer + employee contributions across all your registered pension schemes. Unlike most other allowances, it can be carried forward: unused allowance from the three previous tax years (2023/24, 2024/25, 2025/26) can be added to the current year's allowance, provided you were a member of a registered pension scheme in each of those years. Each 5 April the oldest carry-forward year drops off.

If your threshold income is over £200,000 and your adjusted income is over £260,000, the annual allowance tapers down to a minimum of £10,000. If you have already flexibly accessed a defined-contribution pension, the Money Purchase Annual Allowance limits further DC contributions to £10,000 a year.

How to action it: top up via your workplace scheme, SIPP provider, or personal pension. See the pension annual allowance calculator for carry-forward sequencing.

3. Realise gains up to the £3,000 CGT annual exempt amount

The Capital Gains Tax annual exempt amount (AEA) is £3,000 for 2026/27, down from £12,300 in 2022/23 after two cuts (£6,000 in 2023/24, then £3,000). Gains within the exempt amount are free of CGT; gains above it are taxed at 18% where they fall in your unused basic-rate band and 24% above it. The same rates apply to residential property and to shares. The AEA is per person and does not carry forward.

A common year-end move is "bed and ISA": selling a holding in a general investment account to realise a gain within the exempt amount, then buying the same holding inside an ISA, where future growth is outside CGT. The repurchase uses that year's ISA allowance.

How to action it: place disposals at your broker before 5 April. The UK Capital Gains Tax calculator models the AEA + rate bands.

4. Claim Marriage Allowance for a £252 saving

Marriage Allowance lets one spouse or civil partner transfer £1,260 of their Personal Allowance to the other, provided the transferor's income is under £12,570 and the recipient pays Income Tax at the basic rate (in Scotland, the starter, basic or intermediate rate). The transfer cuts the recipient's tax by up to £252 (£1,260 x 20%) per tax year.

Marriage Allowance can be backdated: a claim made in 2026/27 can go back to 6 April 2022 (2022/23) for any years you were eligible, worth up to £1,008 for the 4 earlier years. Once made, the transfer continues every year until you cancel it.

How to action it: the lower earner applies free at gov.uk. The Marriage Allowance calculator checks eligibility and shows the cash benefit.

5. Make Gift Aid donations and consider the carry-back

Gift Aid lets the charity claim basic-rate tax on your donation, adding 25p to every £1 you give. Higher-rate (40%) and additional-rate (45%) taxpayers can claim the difference between their rate and the basic rate on the grossed-up donation - so a £1,000 cash donation (£1,250 gross) costs a higher-rate taxpayer £750 after relief, and an additional-rate taxpayer £687.50.

Gift Aid donations also reduce adjusted net income, so a donation can restore Personal Allowance lost in the £100,000-£125,140 taper band, or reduce a High Income Child Benefit Charge between £60,000 and £80,000. On your Self Assessment return you can also claim relief on donations made in the current tax year, up to the date you send the return, as if made in the year the return covers.

How to action it: make a Gift Aid declaration with the charity, then claim higher-rate relief on Self Assessment. The 60% tax trap explainer shows how Gift Aid + pension stack to reduce adjusted net income.

6. Check Self Assessment payments on account and plan for MTD

Self Assessment taxpayers usually make two payments on account each year - by 31 January and by 31 July - each normally half the previous year's bill. You do not have to make them if last year's bill was under £1,000, or if more than 80% of last year's tax was collected at source (for example through your tax code). Any balancing payment is due by the following 31 January.

If your income has fallen, you can apply to reduce payments on account. If you reduce them too far, HMRC charges interest on the shortfall. The practical year-end move is to check the next 31 January figure, especially if a payment on account was reduced.

From 6 April 2026, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies to self-employed people and landlords whose qualifying income was over £50,000 in 2024/25. They must keep digital records and send quarterly updates through compatible software. The threshold falls to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028.

How to action it: sign in to your HMRC online account at gov.uk to check your next payment on account and Self Assessment status. See the MTD ITSA 2026 explainer for who is in scope and what software qualifies.

7. Use the Personal Savings Allowance for tax-free interest

The Personal Savings Allowance covers the first £1,000 of savings interest for basic-rate taxpayers, £500 for higher-rate taxpayers, and £0 for additional-rate taxpayers. Interest above the allowance is taxed at your Income Tax rate. There is also a £5,000 starting rate for savings if your other taxable income is below £17,570; it shrinks as that income rises above the Personal Allowance.

The Personal Savings Allowance does not carry forward and is not strictly a "deadline" item, but the year-end review is where most taxpayers check whether interest has exceeded the allowance, or whether to move cash into a Cash ISA, where interest is not taxed at all.

How to action it: review your savings interest statements for the year; if approaching the allowance, consider moving balances to a Cash ISA before 5 April. See the Personal Savings Allowance explainer for rate-band interaction.

8. Use the £500 Dividend Allowance

The Dividend Allowance is £500 for 2026/27, down from £2,000 in 2022/23 after two cuts (£1,000 in 2023/24, then £500). Dividends within it are tax-free; above it, dividends are taxed at 10.75% (basic), 35.75% (higher) or 39.35% (additional) depending on the recipient's other income. The Dividend Allowance does not carry forward.

For limited-company directors taking salary plus dividends, the allowance is usually used up by the first dividend of the year. The year-end check is about timing: whether a dividend is paid before or after 5 April decides which year's rates, allowance and Personal Allowance taper it falls into.

How to action it: see the Dividend Allowance explainer and the Dividend Tax calculator for rate-band sequencing.

Key UK tax year dates to know

5 April - last day of the UK tax year.
6 April - first day of the new tax year. New allowances available; from 6 April 2026, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax begins for self-employed people and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000.
31 July - second Self Assessment payment on account due.
5 October - deadline to register for Self Assessment if you have new untaxed income from the previous tax year.
31 October - paper Self Assessment return deadline.
30 December - online SA filing deadline if you want HMRC to collect tax owed through your tax code (for amounts under £3,000).
31 January - online Self Assessment filing + balancing payment + first payment on account, all due the same day.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if I miss the 5 April UK tax year end deadline?

Some allowances are lost for that year. The £20,000 ISA allowance, the £3,000 Capital Gains Tax annual exempt amount, the £500 Dividend Allowance and the £1,000 / £500 Personal Savings Allowance do not carry forward. Unused pension annual allowance can be carried forward from the previous three tax years if you were a member of a registered pension scheme in them. Marriage Allowance can be backdated for up to four previous tax years, so a missed year is recoverable.

Do I need an accountant for UK tax year end planning?

Many PAYE employees do not: ISAs, Marriage Allowance, pension top-ups and Gift Aid can be arranged online. Professional advice is more often worth it with a limited company, several income streams, rental property, large capital gains, or income near the £100,000 Personal Allowance taper or the £60,000 High Income Child Benefit Charge threshold.

Can I action everything online through my Personal Tax Account?

Not everything. HMRC online services (sign in via gov.uk) handle Marriage Allowance applications, Self Assessment filing and payments, and checking your tax code. Gift Aid higher-rate relief is claimed on your Self Assessment return or by asking HMRC to adjust your tax code. ISA contributions go through your provider, pension contributions through your scheme or SIPP provider, and share disposals through your broker.

What changes for tax year end from April 2026 with MTD ITSA?

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies from 6 April 2026 if your qualifying income from self-employment and property was over £50,000 in 2024/25, from 6 April 2027 if it was over £30,000 in 2025/26, and from 6 April 2028 if it was over £20,000 in 2026/27. You must keep digital records and send quarterly updates through compatible software, due by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, then a tax return by 31 January. PAYE-only taxpayers are unaffected.

Should I rush a pension contribution before 5 April?

Only if unused allowance is about to drop out of carry-forward. Carry-forward looks back three tax years, so on 5 April 2027 any unused 2023/24 allowance is lost. Otherwise the £60,000 allowance is available again next year, and a contribution before 5 April is mainly about this year's Income Tax, for example keeping adjusted net income at or below £100,000 or £60,000.

Does the 5 April deadline matter if I have no investments?

It can. A pension contribution or Gift Aid donation made before 5 April counts for the year that is ending, which matters if you are near £60,000 or £100,000. Marriage Allowance is worth up to £252 a year if one partner earns below the Personal Allowance. A basic-rate employee with no partner, no donations and savings interest within the £1,000 Personal Savings Allowance may have nothing to do.