10 basic ways to claw back some tax waste

• IF YOU ARE SINGLE AND HAVE plus OVER £300,000 (2007/2008), £312,000 (2008/2009) OR MARRIED/CIVIL PARTNERSHIP WITH plus OVER £600,000 (2007/2008), £624,000 (2008/2009): Plan your heritage - an extra £1.9 one million million could go to chosen heirs by planning properly to avoid IHT liabilities. IHT is often lost through not authorship policies in trust, not thought about allowances and, worst of all, by not devising a will at all.

• IF YOU SAVE: Use up your annual ISA allowance - £263 1000000 in tax could be avoided by sheltering investments in ISAs, or moving savings from an ordinary deposit or economy account to an ISA. Also consider a Friendly Society economy account or merchandise from subject Savings & investing as tax-efficient savings options.

• IF YOU ARE ELIGIBLE: Claim your tax recognition - £3.7 one million million of ‘free money' is up for grabs from HMRC and the DWP, in the form of Pension Credits, Child Tax recognition and workings Family Tax recognition.

• IF YOU FILL IN A TAX tax return: Sort out your self-assessment - £460 1000000 waste could be wiped out by all forms arriving present and correct by the 31st Jan deadline. Self-assessment forms received after the deadline incur penalties of £100; further penalties and errors make up the balance of tax wasted in this way.

• ALL TAXPAYERS: Maximise your personal tax allowances - £474 1000000 goes beggary each year, £330 1000000 through non-taxpayers failing to claim tax back on banks and building society savings accounts, and a further £144 million by taxpayers not transferring savings accounts to non-taxpaying spouses, if appropriate, so that the tax liability on the savings is lower, or none.

• IF YOU SAVE: Top up your pension pot - £726 million could be spared by optimising contributions to personal or company pension schemes, or making Additional Voluntary Contributions.

• IF YOUR EMPLOYER OFFERS AN EMPLOYEE SHARE PLAN: Take advantage of it - £184 million is up for grabs for the estimated 600,000 staff currently in Profit Related Pay schemes.

• IF YOU HAVE CAPITAL GAINS: Use your allowance efficiently, perhaps by transferring assets between spouses to make the most of both of your CGT allowances - £264 million could be saved in this way.

• IF YOU GIVE TO CHARITY: £936 million more could go to good causes by using tax-efficient means of charitable giving, i.e. Using a deed of covenant, Gift Aid or payroll giving.

• IF YOUR CHILD OR GRANDCHILD IS ELIGIBLE FOR A CHILD TRUST FUND: Avoid waste by using up the tax free saving potential - £242 million in tax could be saved in their first year of existence.