At a time when HMRC are writing to employees who have underpaid tax because they were on the wrong tax code for 2011/12, it might be worth giving some thought to unclaimed tax reliefs

Here’s the top ten list of our biggest tax wastes:

Area of Tax Wastage	Amount of Wastage
Income-related Tax Credits	£7.26 billion
Tax relief on pension contributions	£2.45 billion
Tax relief on charity donations	£997 million
Savings on Inheritance Tax	£448 million
Making use of ISAs	£403 million
Child Benefit	£401 million
Avoiding penalties for late filing of tax return	£307 million
Savings on Capital Gains Tax	£133 million
Making use of Employee Share Schemes	£118 million
Income tax and Personal Allowances	£83 million
Total	£12.6 billion

Source: unbiased.co.uk

http://www.lovemoney.com/news/household-bills/tax/11323/six-easy-ways-to-pay-less-tax

£12.6 billion is an incredible amount of money and I am sure many people aren’t even aware that they could be claiming tax relief or refunds, so why not check what you could claim and makesure your tax is right.

steve@bicknells.net