URGENT tax back, ISAs & beat Apr price hikes; free Corona; Child Benefit WIN; 132Mb broadband £18/mth; free £200 bank switch; £135 Barbour specs £37

Martin: Urgent - steal a March on April
16 must-do NOWs before the coming April deadlines hit...

Urgent tax reclaims: Marriage tax | PPI tax | tax (er, tax)
The Budget: New tax & NI calc | Child Benefit WIN | childcare news
Beat price hikes incl: Council tax | stamps | mobiles
Savers - use or lose: Top cash ISAs | LISAs (for 1st time buyers)

Last April saw financial storms not showers. Things have marginally abated, but the cost of living crisis is still peeing down on the nation's bank accounts, and it's April when things usually get worse. Price hikes for public utilities happen, tax allowances close, yet if you know what's coming, you can act in advance to mitigate the damage, or even benefit - so steal a March on April.

Plus, last week's Budget has changed a few things too (watch my easy Budget explainer), so there's a lot to go through...

With a number of tax allowances you can claim back four tax years before the current one. So that means when the new tax year starts on 6 April we SAY BYE-BYE TO THE 2019/20 TAX YEAR (specifically 6 Apr 2019 to 5 Apr 2020), so to claim anything from then, do it now.

1. Married or in civil partnership? Apply for marriage tax allowance now or lose up to £250. Around 2.1 million couples eligible for the marriage tax allowance don't get it. Are you...

- Married or in a civil partnership (just cohabiting doesn't count)?
- Is one a non-income-taxpayer, the other a basic 20% taxpayer?

If yes to both, the non-taxpayer can apply to shift 10% of their £12,570 tax-free allowance to their spouse, so they can now earn £1,260 more (it's rounded up) without paying 20% tax on it. That's a gain of £252 per tax year.

Once you're signed up, it's automatically paid year after year. If you've been eligible since 2019/20 you can backdate it for a gain of £1,260, but go quick, or you'll lose the earliest year. Full help to claim is in our Marriage tax guide.

As Jenny emailed: "I always check my emails from Martin and read about marriage tax allowance. I found it simple to apply. It took minutes and, to our amazement, we were posted a cheque for nearly £1,000! Thank you!"

Almost everyone eligible will gain, bar the rare circumstance where the non-taxpayer almost earns the £12,570/yr needed to pay tax and the taxpayer only just earns over this. See rare case where it's counter-productive.

2. PPI RECLAIMING ENDED 5YRS AGO... for many who got payouts then, it's your last chance to get the tax back. The deadline to reclaim PPI was 29 August 2019, slap bang in the middle of the tax year we're about to lose, so it's no surprise it was a huge year for PPI payouts. Here's how it works:
- PPI reclaims paid you back what you paid in, plus
- An added 8% annual statutory interest
- This statutory interest counts as savings interest for tax purposes
- So 20% taxpayers can earn £1,000/yr interest tax-free (£500/yr at 40%)
- Yet unlike savings, with PPI, 20% tax is automatically deducted

So MOST HAD TAX TAKEN OFF BUT NEEDN'T HAVE PAID IT. My reclaim PPI tax blog shows you how to get it back. In Feb, the CatsWhiskers tweeted us: "Claimed £12.5k in PPI, then a further £750 in tax. Thank you."

PS: There's a PPI group legal claim which aims to reclaim another £18bn of PPI, in some cases even if you've already received a partial payout.

3. Is your tax code wrong? Millions are - check now. A tax code is a series of letters & numbers, eg, 1257L, which tells your employer/pension provider what tax to deduct. It's YOUR RESPONSIBILITY, not HM Revenue & Customs', nor your employer's, to check if it's wrong, and if it is, it can mean you're overpaying, and are due cash back. You've until 5 April to do so for 2019/20. Full help via our Free Tax Code Calc.

4. Tax back if you wear a recognisable uniform to work. Even if it's just a branded T-shirt, if you wash or repair it yourself, you can likely claim a tax rebate. The minimum allowance is £60/yr (so worth £12/yr for a basic 20% taxpayer, £24 for a higher 40% payer). Go quick to backdate to 2019/20 via Uniform tax rebate free help.

10. Savers... interest rate rises mean many needlessly pay tax, so use your 2023/24 cash ISA allowance while you can. Adults can put £20,000 into tax-free ISAs each tax year, yet if you don't use the year's allowance you lose it on 5 April. And once it's in a cash ISA it stays tax-free year after year, so some who have maxed it every year now have £100,000s in cash ISAs.

You only pay tax on savings if you earn enough interest. Outside an ISA, savings interest is taxed as income, but the personal savings allowance (PSA) means basic 20% rate taxpayers don't pay tax on the first £1,000/yr interest earned (higher 40% taxpayers £500/yr). Of course as interest rates have risen, you need far less saved to bust the limit. In the top 5.11% easy-access savings...
- A 20% rate taxpayer would earn enough to pay tax with £19,500+ saved.
- A 40% rate taxpayer would earn enough to pay tax with £9,750+ saved.
However, money saved in cash ISAs doesn't count towards your PSA, so you can earn interest there untaxed on top of this.

Normal savings usually pay more than cash ISAs. Though of course, on the day I write that, it's a tie for easy access - though not fixes. So if you don't have enough saved to pay tax, a cash ISA isn't (usually) worth it. Yet if you pay tax on savings interest or will soon, cash ISAs are a winner. Just compare them to the equivalent rates on normal savings for those who pay tax, shown in the table.

ISA rules change on 6 April. You'll be able to pay into multiple ISAs of the same type each tax year (eg, two cash ISAs) and do partial transfers of this year's (as well as past years') ISA funds - more in ISA changes.

PS: There are also investment ISAs. It's not really our bag, but you can also protect investments via a stocks & shares ISA - worth noting as the capital gains and dividend tax allowances are being halved on 6 April.

11. Saving for your first home? Max your 2023/24 LISA allowance now, if you can.

A top Lifetime ISA (LISA) is a powerful tool for first-time buyers' savings (even if you're buying with someone who's owned before). You can save up to £4,000 per tax year and the state adds 25%, so a max £1,000 free cash a year. If you've not filled yours yet, and have the cash, do it before 5 April. Though I've four caveats...

- You have to be aged 18 to 39 to open one.
- You have to have it open a year before you're eligible for the 25% bonus.
- It only works on homes worth under £450,000.
- If you withdraw for any other reason than to buy a qualifying home, or once aged 60, you pay an effective fine of 6.25% of your money to access it.

If only April Fool's Day was the month's most frustrating tradition - sadly each year there's a raft of public service & utility price hikes too.

12. Beat the up-to-13% stamp price rises on 2 April. 1st class stamp prices for letters are set to rise to £1.35 (from £1.25), 2nd class to 85p (from 75p). But buy now and they're valid after, and they're unlikely to drop in price, so stock up on all you'll need in future now - see stamp price rises.

13. Broadband & mobile prices to rise up to 8.8% - yet many can halve costs. Outrageously, firms are allowed to lock people in to above-inflation price rises even mid-contract...

- Broadband: Jump down to our full broadband info below. Millions can halve prices and boost speeds.

- Mobile: Price rises are ubiquitous - many big firms are hiking prices by the full 8%, so see our full firm-by-firm price rise list. Yet 14m people are out of contract and free to move, and while if you do nothing prices are rising, prices for switchers' deals are plummeting. For example, unlimited calls & texts plus...

- 12GB for '£3.95/mth' MSE Blagged - Lebara (uses Vodafone's network), 1mth contract
- 30GB for '£4.50/mth' - iD Mobile (uses Three's network), 12mth contract
- 100GB for '£7.92/mth' - iD Mobile (uses Three's network), 24mth contract

Find the cheapest Sim on your network: Use our Cheap Mobile Finder tool or to stick where you are, see our Mobile phone haggling guide.

14. Council tax bills UP 5% (c. £100/yr) for many on 1 April - are you already overpaying? Most English councils have signalled they'll raise bills the max 5% this year, adding a typical £100/yr for a band D property (a few have been given permission to raise it more). In Wales, it's 5% to 10% (it's mostly frozen in Scot). Little can be done about that, but check...

- Are you one of up to 400,000 in the wrong band? If yours is too high, you could be due a backdated payout of £1,000s plus a lower bill. Try my 10-min council tax check 'n' challenge to see.

- Are you missing out on a discount? This includes those who live alone (or with students/children) | full-time students | those on low incomes | with disabilities | a 'severe mental impairment' (often dementia or severe stroke) | and carers. Full info in Are you due a council tax discount?

15. Water bills UP an average 6% from 1 April. Huge variance here, eg, Hafren Dyfrdwy's rise is 20%, while South West Water's prices won't change. Check firm-by-firm price changes. Yet for those in ENGLAND & WALES, here's my rule of thumb...

More bedrooms in your home than people (so, eg, three bedrooms, two people), or the same number? If so, a water meter is likely to save you cash

As Marie emailed: "My last water bill had risen to £1,600 a year - I took your advice, had a meter installed and now pay just over £250 annually - saving over £1,000 a year." If they say you can't get a water meter, ask for an 'assessed charge'. Plus, there's lots more help, including info on discounted tariffs, in our water savings guide, and some of these work for Scotland too.

16. Energy Price Cap to FALL by an average 12%. The price of energy may be falling but it's still a massive bill. Use our 'What will I pay from April 2024?' Price Cap Calc to help you budget. And many can now switch & save a little, including...

- Undercut the price cap by 3%. Read E.on Next Pledge tariff help.
- Fix for price certainty. See top energy fixes for info & if it's worth fixing.