Introduction
Whenever there is a deadline, human nature gravitates towards it.
This applies as much to competition entries, or indeed writing educational CPD guides, as it does to efficient and effective tax planning.
While most advised clients seem to be good at getting their tax affairs in order as far ahead of the 5 April deadline as possible, there are still too many who do not have the clarity, knowledge or understanding to get their financial house in order.
This means they could be missing out on tax relief, or early bird discounts, as well as potentially leaving it too late before investing in their chosen tax-efficient investment - and could find the doors closed to them as a result.
This guide draws on the experience of financial advisers, wealth managers and tax-efficient investors to find out what drives people to leave it so late to do their tax and how to help prevent this behaviour.
The guide also aims to make sense of the various Isa offerings in the market, provides some basic guidelines to encouraging year-round inheritance tax planning and suggests ways to help advisers encourage their clients to plan ahead so April 2019 will be a less frenetic one for you and your clients.
This guide qualifies for an indicative 60 minutes' worth of CPD.
Contributors to this guide: Dawn Register, tax partner of BDO; Mark Brownridge, director general of the EIS Association; Richard Hoskins, co-founder of Kin Capital; Tim Morris, IFA for Russell & Co; Rachael Griffin, tax and financial planning specialist for Old Mutual Wealth; Jack Rose, head of tax products for LightTower Partners; Ian Battersby, business development director for Seneca Partners; Tracyann Kneen, product technical manager at Nucleus; Daniel Rodwell, managing director for Growth Invest; Paul Latham, managing director of Octopus Investments; Luke Davies, chief executive of IW Capital; James Nield, investment manager for Thesis Asset Management; Rachel Winter, senior investment manager at Killik & Co; EIS Association; Octopus Investments; Gov.UK; Money Advice Service.
Simoney Kyriakou is content plus editor for FTAdviser
