31.03.26
Five Days to Save Your Allowance
The tax year closes on 5 April. Here is what to do before it does, and what to watch for when it reopens.
ISA DEADLINE, VCT CHANGES, A WIDENING GENDER INVESTMENT GAP, AND A DOMINICAN ARTIST WORTH KNOWING. YOUR WEEK, DIGESTED BY DURA.
MONEY MATTERS
Five days to use your ISA
The 2025/26 tax year closes on 5 April, and with it goes any unused portion of your 20,000 ISA allowance. It does not roll over, and there is no way to reclaim it once the new year starts on 6 April. This year carries extra urgency: from April 2027, the cash ISA limit for those under 65 will be cut from 20,000 to 12,000, making 2025/26 potentially the last year to shelter a full allowance in cash. If you have money sitting in a current account, this week is the moment to act.
VCT relief falls on 6 April
Income tax relief on Venture Capital Trusts drops from 30% to 20% when the new tax year opens. For anyone considering a VCT investment, subscribing before 5 April locks in the higher rate. It is one of the more quietly significant changes of this tax year, and one that tends to get overlooked until it is too late. Worth a conversation with your adviser this week if you have not already had it.
Pensions, estates and the 2027 deadline
From April 2027, unused pension funds will fall within the scope of inheritance tax, ending a long-standing and widely used estate planning strategy. The rules are confirmed, though some technical detail is still being finalised. If your pension forms a significant part of your estate plan, now is the time to review the structure with your adviser rather than wait for the guidance to settle. Death benefit nominations in particular may need updating, as these sit outside a will entirely.
The gender investment gap, widening and narrowing at once
New data shows there are now 11 million male investors in the UK compared with 7.4 million women, a participation gap that has grown over the past year. And yet women who do invest are building wealth faster, with average invested assets per female investor rising while men's remain broadly flat. The HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter's latest annual review adds a further data point: 37% of senior financial services roles are now held by women. Progress is real, but uneven.
The ISA wrapper is becoming more valuable at exactly the moment the government is making it smaller. Use it fully while you still can.
CULTURE AND LIFE
Art Basel Hong Kong holds firm
Art Basel Hong Kong recorded a strong edition this week despite the disruption rippling through global luxury and art markets from the conflict in the Middle East. Several major fairs elsewhere have been rescheduled or reformatted as a result of the instability. The resilience of the Asian market is being watched closely by collectors and dealers as a signal of where confidence in high-value art currently sits.
Hulda Guzman comes to Turner Contemporary
Dominican artist Hulda Guzman is presenting her first European institutional exhibition at Turner Contemporary in Margate, a show well worth the journey out of London. Her work sits somewhere between folk painting and surrealism, rich with colour, pattern and a particular attentiveness to women's lives and domestic worlds. For anyone building a collection with a focus on living female artists, she is a name to know.
On philanthropy and the power of place
Figurative, the philanthropy development organisation working across the UK's cultural sector, hosted its annual conference in Manchester earlier this month exploring how place-based giving can drive meaningful change beyond London. The conversation is timely as arts funding pressures intensify and private philanthropists become an increasingly important part of sustaining cultural institutions outside the capital. If you give to the arts or are considering it, their work is worth following.
ON THE HORIZON
5 April: tax year closes
The final deadline for ISA contributions, pension top-ups, and VCT subscriptions at the current relief rate. Practical cutoffs for some providers fall a day or two earlier, so Friday 3 April is worth treating as your real deadline.
6 April: new tax year opens
Fresh ISA allowances reset, dividend tax rises take effect for investors holding assets outside a wrapper, and Making Tax Digital begins for sole traders and landlords earning above 50,000. A busy opening to the 2026/27 year.
US jobs data and UK economic outlook
The March US non-farm payrolls report lands on Friday, closely watched after February's 92,000 job losses. Closer to home, the OECD has cut its UK growth forecast to 0.7% for 2026, the largest downgrade of any G7 nation, citing the economic impact of the conflict in the Middle East. A reminder that the macro backdrop remains genuinely uncertain as we move into the new financial year.
The Dura Society | Women Wealth Well-Being
thedurasociety.com