1) Always check your tax-code carefully. Don't assume it is correct. A lot of the people I meet each year find a basic error in their tax-code.

2) Switch savings into your spouse's name. If your wife or husband pays tax at a lower rate than you, or if they are a non-taxpayer, switch your savings into their name and you will pay less Income Tax.

3) Use ISA allowances. Why keep your savings in the bank or building society in fully taxable deposit accounts?
A husband and wife can each shelter £3,000 a year in an ISA where all the interest will be tax-free. You can also each invest another £4,000 into an investment ISA.

4) Unhappy with a PEP or ISA? Switch it – don't surrender it. If you surrender your PEP or ISA, you will lose the Income Tax efficiency of that investment. Either switch into better funds with your existing provider or transfer the PEP or ISA to a new company.

5) Make a will. If you are married, you can put a Discretionary Trust in your wills and use both of your nil rate bands when you die instead of just one, saving your beneficiaries up to £120,000 in Inheritance Tax.

6) Non Tax-payer? Fill in an R85. If you don't pay Income Tax, you can ask your bank or building society for an R85 form. Fill it in and they will pay your interest to you gross – ie without Income Tax deducted.

7) Get rid of the company car. Most company cars are now not worth having as the tax penalties on company cars make it more economical to buy or lease your own car. It may be a status symbol to have a flashy new car, but it may give you a K tax-code and that means you will owe Income Tax to HMRC before you actually earn anything!

8) Give your money away! If you are concerned about Inheritance Tax, you can give £3,000 away from your capital each tax-year. If you did not use this allowance last year, you can give £6,000 this year.

9) Take a pension payment – not a pay rise. If your employer gives you a 5 per cent pay rise, you will pay Income Tax and employee's National Insurance contributions on that money, and your employer will pay employer's National Insurance on it. But if he pays 5 per cent of your salary into a pension plan for you, you will not pay Income Tax on that money and neither of you will pay National Insurance contributions on it.

10) Use your Capital Gains Tax allowance. If you have invested into a Unit Trust and the capital has shown good growth, you can take a capital withdrawal from the fund. This will be subject to Capital Gains Tax – but not Income Tax. As an individual, you have a Capital Gains Tax allowance of £8,800 in the current tax-year. That means you can take £8,800 out of your unit trust and pay absolutely no tax on it at all.