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This article is for general guidance only and is not financial or professional advice. Any links are for your own information, and do not constitute any form of recommendation by Saga. You should not solely rely on this information to make any decisions, and consider seeking independent professional advice. All figures and information in this article are correct at the time of publishing, but laws, entitlements, tax treatments and allowances may change in the future.
With 2026 well under way and the end of the tax year getting closer, there are financial jobs you can do this month to save on tax and potentially boost your pension.
Whether it’s plugging gaps in your national insurance record, booking a free financial planning session or using your partner’s tax allowances, here’s what you could consider doing this month.
What’s on this page?
With the end of the tax year approaching, now is a good time to give your pension a quick spring clean. If you’re still contributing to your pension, start by making sure you’re making the best use of the pension allowances available to you.
You can usually contribute up to the lower of your annual income or £60,000 each tax year and benefit from tax relief. Higher and additionalrate taxpayers can also claim extra relief through their tax return. If you have unused allowances from the past three years, you may be able to pay in more through ‘carry forward’.
It’s also worth checking you haven’t lost track of an old pension from a previous job. Find out more about how to track down lost pensions.
Finally, review your expression of wish forms. These documents tell your pension provider who you’d like to receive your pension benefits when you die. They’re not legally binding, but they play a major role in decisionmaking and can avoid family stress later on.
Updating them after life changes such as marriage, divorce or new relationships is particularly important, especially for cohabiting couples who don’t have automatic rights to a partner’s pension.
You need at least 35 years of national insurance contributions to get the full state pension and at least 10 years’ worth to qualify for any state pension at all. Check your state pension forecast at gov.uk to see your national insurance record and whether you are on track to get the full amount.
You can fill gaps in your national insurance record by ‘buying back’ years. You can also top up years where you were short on the minimum amount needed to qualify as a full year’s contribution. It costs around £900 to pay for a full year of national insurance contributions, or less if you have already made a partial payment that tax year. You can buy back up to six years.
We explain more here about how to boost your state pension by filling in national insurance gaps.
If you’re in a trusting relationship, consider giving your partner money to make sure you are benefiting from all the tax allowances available.
Topping up your spouse or partner’s pension or ISA might not be the most traditional Valentine’s Day gift, but it could make financial sense, says Claire Exley, head of financial advice and guidance at JP Morgan Personal Investing.
For example, each person has a total annual ISA allowance of £20,000. That means £40,000 per household if couples are able to make use of both allowances. This is particularly valuable if you might otherwise need to pay tax on some of your savings interest. (The personal savings allowance, which is the tax-free threshold for interest, is £1,000 a year, £500 for higher-rate taxpayers and zero for additional-rate taxpayers.)
You can also pay up to £60,000 into a pension each year and benefit from tax relief, so consider using a partner’s pension allowance for further tax relief. Individuals can only pay into a pension as much as their annual earnings.
If your partner is not working, they can still pay up to £2,880 into a pension each tax year with tax relief added to boost it to £3,600. In addition to giving their pot a boost, it could also make planning your joint retirement income more tax-efficient (for example allowing you to take advantage of both sets of tax allowances).
Exley says: “Contributing to your partner’s ISA could help to reduce your overall capital gains tax bill. Pension contributions can help to maximise higher rates of pension tax relief or ensure you stay on track to build the retirement pot you want if you’ve taken a break from work, for example to raise children.”
You should have filed your tax return and paid any tax due before 31 January. But if you’ve forgotten, it’s important you file your return and settle your bill as soon as possible. Interest starts accruing from the day it was due, and the interest rate is currently 7.75%.
Almost 11.5 million tax returns were filed by the 31 January 2026 deadline, but an estimated 1 million did not file on time, according to figures from HMRC.
If you file your tax return late, you’ll usually get a £100 automatic late-filing penalty for missing the 31 January deadline.
If taxes owed for the 2024/25 tax year are not paid in February, 30 days after payment is due, a 5% penalty on what you owe may also be charged. This is in addition to interest on the tax owed, which is currently 7.75% a year (the Bank of England base rate plus 2.5%). The penalties can increase the longer you leave it.
These percentage charges apply to unpaid tax due last year, not payments on account that have been calculated for the coming year, based on last year’s bill.
You can estimate your penalty for late self-assessment tax payments using this government self assessment payment calculator.
Charlene Young, senior pensions and savings expert at AJ Bell, says: “The late filing charges apply even if there is zero tax to pay, meaning those who didn’t realise they needed to file or failed to tell the taxman why they no longer needed to for 2024/25 would have been caught.
600,000 people with zero tax to pay have been fined in the five years to 2025, according to analysis by Tax Policy Associates.” If you believe you didn’t have to file a tax return, you should let HMRC know as soon as possible, to avoid further fines.
Young adds: Taxpayers can appeal any late payment fines via the gov.uk website, if they feel they have grounds. “Many people don’t realise that you can also ask HMRC to cancel a penalty if you did not have to send a tax return. “It’s often worth paying the initial penalty, even if you’re planning to appeal. Although it involves shelling out cash, it avoids you paying interest on the penalty itself from the date it became due if you lose your appeal.
“If you don’t have an excuse to appeal a fine but still owe money, you might still be able to set up a payment plan to get back on track. It’s essential you don’t put your head in the sand.”
Robert Salter, a director at Blick Rothenberg, adds that if you are expecting a tax refund from HMRC and it hasn’t been paid yet, you should consider chasing this refund with HMRC.
Do you need to sign up for Making Tax Digital?
A new system for income tax comes in from 6 April 2026. If you’re self-employed or a landlord and you earned more than £50,000 a year from self-employment and/or rental income in 2024/25, you’ll need to sign up to Making Tax Digital by April, and will have to use it from 6 April. If your income is below £50,000 but above £30,000, you’ll need to sign up by April 2027.
The changes mean you’ll need to use HMRC-approved compatible software to update HMRC on your income and expenses every three months – not just in your annual self-assessment.
There are some exemptions, for example people who are digitally excluded.
HMRC will look at your last tax return to calculate whether you need to sign up or not. You should receive a letter, but even if you don’t, it’s your responsibility to sign up if you need to.
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