Four tax opportunities you might be missing out on

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For the majority of adults in the UK, tax is part of life. But there are opportunities out there that could help you save on tax. Here are four things you could consider.

1. See if a pension plan can help

Pension plans come with tax benefits, which can work in a couple of different ways.

If you pay into a plan after you’ve been taxed, your pension provider claims back the tax you’ve already paid on that sum of money. This ‘tax relief’ is then put into your pension plan, helping to give your pension savings a boost.

Tax relief is only added at the basic rate of 20%. So if you’re someone who pays more tax than the basic rate – for example, if you’re a higher or additional-rate taxpayer – you need to claim extra tax relief back from the government yourself. You probably won’t want to miss out on the opportunity for some extra money! You can learn more about claiming it in our article. 

Tax bands and rates are different depending on where you live in the UK.

Other people – for example, those in salary sacrifice or salary exchange schemes – get tax benefits in a different way. In these cases, you pay into your plan before income tax is taken from you. You’re simply taxed on your income minus what you’ve paid into your plan, lowering how much income tax and National Insurance you pay.

And remember, paying into a pension plan can reduce your 'adjusted net income'. This means it can even help some high earners get their personal allowance back, and let some people keep more of their Child Benefit. 

A pension is an investment. Its value can go down as well as up and could be worth less than was paid in. 

Want to make the most of your Standard Life plan’s tax benefits? If it’s right for you, you could consider making a one-off payment or increasing your monthly payments. You may be able to do these things online or on our app. But if your employer set up your plan and you want to change your monthly payments, ask them how it works for you. 

2. Check if you qualify for Marriage Allowance

Married or in a civil partnership? You might be eligible for Marriage Allowance. 

To explain this, we first need to talk about the personal allowance. This is the amount of income you can have in a tax year that you don’t need to pay income tax on. For most people, the personal allowance is £12,570. So, say your income is £20,000. You’d only pay tax on £7,430 (£20,000 – £12,570).

You’ll get less personal allowance if your adjusted net income is over £100,000, and no personal allowance at all if it’s more than £125,140. 

If your income is less than the personal allowance, you’ll have no income tax to pay – and you might be entitled to Marriage Allowance. This lets you transfer £1,260 of your personal allowance to your spouse or civil partner if they’re a basic-rate taxpayer (or they pay the Scottish starter, basic or intermediate rate). They could save up to £252 a year on tax, which could benefit you as a couple. You may also be able to backdate your Marriage Allowance claim.

By transferring your personal allowance, you’re reducing your own. So you could end up paying tax when you weren’t before. But your spouse or civil partner’s tax savings might outweigh that, so it’s worth checking. To find out more, visit GOV.UK. For those born before 1935, you might want to check out something called ‘Married Couple’s Allowance’ instead.

3. Think about how to take your pension savings

One way to potentially reduce future tax bills is to carefully consider how you’ll withdraw money from your pension plans.

You can usually take your pension savings from age 55, rising to 57 from 6 April 2028. Typically, you can get 25% of each pension plan tax free (although the maximum you can take tax-free across all your plans is usually £268,275). The rest is normally subject to income tax when you take it.

Withdrawing a lot of money from a pension plan at one time – for instance, by taking big lump sums or even all your pension savings in one go – could mean you end up paying a lot of tax. Some people might feel comfortable with this. But you could also explore taking your money in smaller, regular chunks – perhaps by opting for ‘drawdown’, an ‘annuity’, or a mix of both. Find out more about what these things mean in our article.

You might also have the option of taking the tax-free portion of your money gradually, rather than in one go. So you could take a bit tax-free and a bit of taxable money, and this could reduce your overall tax bill.

If you’re over 50, Pension Wise – a service from MoneyHelper – can give you free, impartial guidance about your options and the tax you could pay on your pension savings.

4. Check if you can claim tax back on charity donations

Gift Aid is something that allows some charities and amateur sports clubs to claim 25p for every £1 you donate to them, with no extra cost to you.

If you’re someone who pays more than the basic rate of tax, you may be able to claim back some tax when you donate through Gift Aid. You can find out more on the government’s website.

Making Gift Aid donations could also potentially reduce your adjusted net income, which again could help lower your tax bill. 

 

The information here is based on our understanding in June 2025 and should not be taken as financial advice.

Your own personal circumstances, including where you live in the UK, will have an impact on the tax you pay. Laws and tax rules may change in the future.

Standard Life accepts no responsibility for information in external websites. These are provided for general information.