On April 4, most financial advisers will receive several last-minute telephone calls from people who have forgotten to use their ISA allowances in the current tax-year.

Unfortunately, financial advisers are not magicians and, if you leave it too late, you could miss out on your ISA allowance completely. So, if you want to invest in to an ISA before the end of the tax year on April 5 – don't leave it until the very last day, do it now.

An ISA is a very tax efficient investment or savings vehicle. Whether you invest £3,000 into a Mini Cash ISA at your bank or building society, or whether you decide to put the whole £7,000 into a Maxi Investment ISA, you will benefit from significant tax advantages.

Your capital will grow free of income and Capital Gains Tax, and you will not suffer any tax on income or capital withdrawals that you take from an ISA.

If your Maxi ISA holds share-based unit trust funds, there will be a small amount of income tax withheld on the dividend income, but even this is limited to just 10 per cent.

So, if you have some spare capital to invest, make use of your ISA allowance of up to £7,000 in this tax year by investing before April 5. Then, on April 6, you can do it all again in the new 2007-2008 tax-year!


Tax facts

We all refer to 'the Inland Revenue', but it actually had a name change and is now known as HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs).

There used to be a tax on the number of windows you had in your house. That's why you still see bricked-up windows in older properties in most towns.

The tax-man likes the number 40. The highest rate of Income Tax is 40 per cent, most people who sell a large asset will pay Capital Gains Tax at 40 per cent, trustees of a trust fund pay tax at 40 per cent and Inheritance Tax is paid at 40 per cent.
It is estimated that more than £4 billion will be raised in Inheritance Tax by the end of the current tax-year, from around 40,000 individual estates.

Tax evasion is illegal. Tax avoidance is not. Take professional advice and you might save yourself Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, and Inheritance Tax.