Allowances you might not know you have

ISAs and pensions are well known. But the tax system has several smaller allowances that are easy to miss, each aimed at a particular situation. None of these is a loophole. They're allowances you're entitled to when your situation fits.

Marriage Allowance

If you're married or in a civil partnership and one of you earns under the Personal Allowance, that person can transfer £1,260 of it to a basic-rate partner, reducing their tax by up to £252 a year.

The £1,000 side-income allowances

Earn a bit on the side? The trading allowance covers the first £1,000 a year of casual or freelance income tax-free, and a separate property allowance does the same for £1,000 of property income. Below the threshold, there's usually nothing to report at all.

Rent a Room

Letting a furnished room in your own home? The Rent a Room limit is £7,500 a year: you can earn that tax-free from it.

Dividend and Capital Gains allowances

If you invest outside an ISA, the first £500 of dividends each year is tax-free, and the first £3,000 of gains each year is free of Capital Gains Tax. Inside an ISA, both are irrelevant. It's all sheltered.

For families

The Junior ISA limit is £9,000 tax-free per child each year, entirely separate from your own allowance. And Tax-Free Childcare adds government money towards childcare costs, though it interacts with Universal Credit, so it's worth comparing which suits you.

Which of these apply depends on your circumstances. 'Your tax picture' tailors the list to you, and every one links to the official GOV.UK page. This is general information, not personal tax advice.