Capital, Legacy & The Honest Limits

The £3,000 exemption doesn't carry forward, so realising gains up to it each year ("harvesting") is tax-free. Bed & ISA (sell, then rebuy inside an ISA) and Bed & Spouse shelter future gains; offset losses; and spread a big disposal across two tax years.

The gifting toolkit is immediately exempt: £3,000/yr annual exemption, £250 small gifts, wedding gifts, and gifts out of surplus income. Bigger gifts rely on the 7-year rule (with taper relief). Leaving 10%+ to charity cuts the IHT rate from 40% to 36%.

£7,500/yr tax-free from a lodger in your main home; the £1,000 trading and property allowances (see Hidden Tax); and everyday employee claims (mileage at HMRC's approved rates, working-from-home costs, professional subscriptions).

EIS (30%), SEIS (50%) and VCT (20% from April 2026) give generous upfront income-tax relief — but they invest in small, often illiquid, high-risk companies. They make sense only after ISA and pension allowances are full, and with regulated advice.

Using allowances Parliament created is fine and expected. Schemes that contrive an artificial result get unwound by HMRC's General Anti-Abuse Rule, may have to be disclosed under DOTAS, and often end in penalties and interest.