The end of the tax year may not stir up the same emotions as 31st December (unless you're an accountant!) but it shouldn't be ignored.

Would you turn down free money? Probably not. But many of us do exactly that because we don’t make use of the tax allowances the government gives us. There’s no point getting stressed about end of year tax planning and racing around trying to save every last penny, as few of us make the best financial decisions when we’re under pressure. But there may be some straightforward steps you can take that mean you’ll be able to keep a little more of your money and give a little less to the taxman.

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Only one in three adults has made a will, but far fewer have thought about what would happen if they couldn’t make decisions about their money.

There’s no easy way around this and I realise this is an article you’d probably rather not read. What I’ll be talking about is why you should think about drawing up a document that will set out who should make decisions about your money if you become mentally incapable of doing this yourself. Now, you may feel that you don’t want to go to the time and expense of drawing up a lasting power of attorney (the official name for the document) and that’s absolutely fine as long as you're aware of the pros and cons. What I’m keen to avoid is that you don’t have any plans because you don’t realise you need to make them.

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HM Revenue & Customs is targeting the medical profession; encouraging doctors and dentists to declare all their income or face tougher penalties.

If you work as a doctor, consultant or dentist and you’ve bumped up your expenses or failed to declare all your income, you’re being given a chance to come clean about any tax you owe in return for a reduced penalty. The idea behind HM Revenue & Customs' amnesty to doctors and dentists is that you tell them about undeclared income etc by the end of March. If you pay any tax you owe by the end of June, you’ll only be charged a penalty of 10% of the tax you owe (compared to a maximum penalty of 100% that HMRC can impose if it finds out you’ve lied about your income).

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