Your 72-Hour Tax Year Checklist

Unknown Speaker

You've spent 16 weeks learning about withholding tax, the allowance trap, net yields, freedom numbers. You know this stuff. And with 72 hours until the ISA deadline, you're probably thinking: I'm sorted.

Sophie

Here's the thing. Knowing the concepts and knowing your actual numbers are two completely different things. Most people who've followed along this season still haven't checked the six things that matter most right now — before the tax year closes.

Unknown Speaker

So that's what we're doing today. Six items. Six checks. Everything we've covered across an entire season, turned into a checklist you can run through before Sunday. This is the Season 1 finale of Net Worth It.

Unknown Speaker

Welcome to Net Worth It — the UK dividend investing podcast that shows you what you actually keep. I'm Matt.

Sophie

And I'm Sophie. This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice. The value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always do your own research and consider seeking advice from a qualified, FCA-regulated financial adviser.

Unknown Speaker

This is episode seventeen, the final episode of Season 1. We promised you this one at the end of episode sixteen — your 72-hour tax year checklist. The ISA deadline is Sunday April 5. The tax year flips Monday April 6. New dividend tax rates kick in that same day. Let's make these 72 hours count.

Unknown Speaker

So here's where I actually am, and I suspect I'm not alone. I've been following this whole season. I know about withholding tax from episode one. I know the £500 allowance trap from episode two. I know my FIRE number in net dividends from episode three. I've read the CSV export. I know the payment date rule. I've done the work. But it's Thursday. The deadline is Sunday. And I'm sitting here thinking — what do I actually need to check right now? Like, in my actual portfolio. Not conceptually. Actually.

Sophie

That gap — between knowing the concepts and knowing your own numbers — is exactly what this episode is about. And you're right that most people are in that position. They've learned the frameworks. They just haven't applied them to their own data before the year closes.

Unknown Speaker

And why does it matter that it's these 72 hours specifically? Couldn't I do this in two weeks?

Sophie

Some of it, yes. But three things are irreversible after Sunday. The £20,000 ISA allowance expires — any unused room is gone, it does not carry forward. The £500 dividend allowance resets, which sounds fine until you realise you haven't checked whether you've used it. And from Monday April 6, the dividend tax rates go up. Basic rate goes from 8.75% to 10.75%. Higher rate goes from 33.75% to 35.75%. The calendar doesn't wait for you to be ready.

Unknown Speaker

Right. So what does the checklist look like?

Sophie

Six items. Some take two minutes. Some might take twenty. But if you work through all six before Sunday, you'll walk into the new tax year knowing exactly where you stand. And I'll say upfront — some of these will surprise you even if you've been following along all season.

Unknown Speaker

That's a slightly ominous way to start a checklist.

Sophie

Just honest. Let's go through them.

Sophie

Checklist item two is where most people start — the ISA allowance. And it's the obvious one, so I want to come back to it. But let's start with item four, because this one catches even experienced investors off guard. Check number one: know which dividends land in which tax year. This goes back to episode ten. The rule from ITTOIA 2005 section 384(1) is that dividends are taxed on the payment date — when the cash actually hits your account — not the ex-dividend date.

Unknown Speaker

And why does that matter right now, specifically?

Sophie

Because there are stocks that went ex-dividend in March — meaning you're definitely getting paid — but whose actual payment dates are in late April or May. Those dividends do not land in 2025/26. They land in 2026/27, at the higher tax rates.

Unknown Speaker

So I might think I've timed things to use up my allowance this year, and the money actually arrives in the new tax year at the higher rate.

Sophie

Exactly. This affects GIA holdings. If you hold anything in a GIA that went ex-dividend this side of April 5 but pays after April 6, that income counts toward next year's £500 allowance — at the new rates. Your broker might not make this clear. The CSV timestamp from episode sixteen is the place to check. The payment date column is the one doing the legal work.

Unknown Speaker

Blimey. Alright. What's check number two?

Sophie

The one everyone knows but not everyone acts on. ISA allowance — use it or lose it. The £20,000 limit expires Sunday April 5. If you have unused room, it disappears. It does not roll over to next year. Even a small top-up — a few hundred pounds — means that money will never face UK dividend tax again. Every pound inside your ISA grows and pays out with no UK income tax and no capital gains tax. That benefit is permanent, on every pound you get in before Sunday.

Unknown Speaker

And there's also the Easter timing thing to watch, right?

Sophie

Yes — Easter weekend in 2026 falls on the April 3 to 6 stretch. Bank transfers don't always complete over a bank holiday. If you're moving money from a current account into your ISA, it's worth doing that today or tomorrow rather than leaving it to Saturday. Some platforms settle instantly. Others take a working day. Don't assume.

Unknown Speaker

Good call. What's number three?

Sophie

Know your dividend allowance position. Check your total GIA dividends for 2025/26 right now. Are you under the £500 threshold, or over it? If you're under, you have zero GIA dividend tax this year. If you're over, the amount above £500 is taxable — and the rate that applies is this year's rate for any dividends already paid, and next year's higher rate for anything paid from April 6 onwards. One more thing: if your GIA dividend income for the year has reached £10,000, you need to register for Self-Assessment. The registration deadline is October 5 this year — but the sooner you know, the better.

Unknown Speaker

So the checklist isn't just about what to do before Sunday — some of it is about knowing what you'll need to do in the coming months.

Sophie

Right. The year closes Sunday. The paperwork follows.

Unknown Speaker

What's number four on the list?

Sophie

Check your net yields — not the gross figures your broker shows. This is episode one territory. Your broker shows you a yield. But after withholding tax on foreign stocks, and after UK dividend tax on GIA holdings, the yield you actually receive is lower. From April 6 that gap widens, because the rates go up. A 4% gross yield on a UK stock in a GIA — for a higher-rate taxpayer — becomes about 2.57% net after April 6, down from about 2.65% today.

Unknown Speaker

And this matters for the freedom number, doesn't it? Because if the net yield on your GIA holdings drops, your independence target goes up.

Sophie

It does. Which leads to check number five. Know your real freedom number. Not the textbook 4% rule figure. The net version that accounts for your actual wrapper mix, your tax position, your holdings. If you've been tracking toward a target built on gross yields, the number you need may be higher than you think — and from April 6 it shifts again. This isn't cause for alarm. It's cause for knowing. Episode three walked through the scenarios. If you haven't revisited your net FIRE number since then, before the new tax year starts is a good moment.

Unknown Speaker

And the final check?

Sophie

Review your income diversification. Before the new tax year, take a look at your portfolio's income mix. Are you concentrated in one sector, one payment quarter, one country? We covered in episode eight what happened in 2020 when banks, oil, and mining all cut at the same time — the investors who felt it hardest were the ones who'd assumed concentration was the same thing as a portfolio. The new tax year is a natural reset point. If you've never mapped out which sectors your income comes from, today is a good day to do it.

Unknown Speaker

So six checks: payment date rule, ISA allowance, dividend allowance position, net yields, freedom number, income diversification. That feels like a lot, but honestly, most of those are just looking at numbers you already have access to.

Sophie

Most of it is reading, not doing. And the good news is, if you've been following along all season, you have the frameworks for every single one. The knowledge is there. Now it's about applying it to your actual situation before Sunday. But here's where those six items become something more than a list — when you can see all of them together, in one place, against your real holdings.

Unknown Speaker

So how does Nestor fit into this? Because that's exactly the problem I've been having — I have bits of this in a spreadsheet, bits in the app, bits in a CSV file.

Sophie

Nestor shows you the net picture and the gross figures your broker displays. Your GIA dividend total for the year, your ISA versus GIA split, your net yield after withholding tax, and your income by sector so you can see exactly where you stand against the £500 allowance and spot concentration at a glance.

Unknown Speaker

So the checklist we just walked through — that's what the app shows you.

Sophie

That's the idea. The full picture: what you're keeping, what you've used, where you stand against the allowance, and how far you are from independence.

Unknown Speaker

And that's actually a good segue, because we've got something we want to say before we close out the season.

Sophie

You came into this season thinking you understood your portfolio. And maybe you did. But understanding your holdings and understanding what you actually keep — after tax, after currency, after the costs your broker doesn't surface — those are two different things. That gap is what this whole season has been about closing.

Unknown Speaker

Seventy-two hours. Six checks. You've got everything you need. The ISA allowance expires Sunday. The tax year flips Monday. And then — fresh start.

Unknown Speaker

One last thing before we sign off — and this one's personal. Seventeen episodes. Sixteen weeks. An entire season built around one idea: the number that matters isn't the one on your broker screen. To everyone who's listened — thank you. You've made this worth building. Here's what would help us most heading into Season 2: send us feedback in the Nestor app. Every message shapes what gets built next. And if you know someone who's building a portfolio — share this. That's how we grow. Quick question: which episode hit hardest? Let us know in the app.

Sophie

Remember, nothing in this episode is personal financial advice. For decisions about your own portfolio, consider consulting an FCA-regulated adviser.

Unknown Speaker

That's a wrap on Season 1. We'll be back after the tax year flips.

Sophie

See you then.