It's that time of the year again; Self Assessments cause so many people headaches, and the idea of this post is to reduce that headache, if only slightly, with our top 3 tax tips to keep some of your money in your pocket!
#1 - If you use your home as your office, and use your electricity and phone line, have you claimed a percentage of your bill against your income? Tip: You can only claim a percentage based on the percentage you use it for business use, eg. If you use your home telephone 80% for personal use, and 20% for business use, you can claim for 20% of your bill against your taxable income.

#2 - Have you made full use of the fact that each of your children can earn up to 6,475 a year as income and 10,100 a year in capital gains - completely tax free? Tip: Grandparents can be the key here, since it is not as simple as parents putting money in their children's names. So professional advice is essential.
#3 - Have you used the legitimate ways to reduce your tax bills by transferring income from a spouse paying tax at higher rates to a spouse paying tax at lower rates? Tip: At the very least, you should aim to make sure that neither spouse wastes their 6,475 tax-free allowance - but early professional advice is essential. In particular, care needs to be taken not to divert income deriving from a spouse's company if that spouse substantially performs the work.
So, there you go! Implement these tips, and start keeping some money in your pocket, and not the Taxman's!

If you are interested in even more tax tips to help you reduce your tax liability before you do your Self Assessment, click here to have a look at our specially designed Individual's Self Assessment Tax Kit. (Go to our website, Free Business Resources, then Individual to claim your free copy)