Paul Haywood-Schiefer, a senior manager at Blick Rothenberg, said: ‘Remember your tax-free allowances – the first £12,570 of income is covered by your personal allowance and received tax free (unless your total income exceeds £100,000).

‘A further £2,000 of dividend income is covered by a dividend allowance (if not already covered by the personal allowance) and there is no tax to pay. For basic rate and higher rate taxpayers, they can also benefit from the personal savings allowance, which means the first £1,000/£500 (respectively) of interest and again this is free from tax.

‘Although you might not be able to do much about influencing when interest or dividends are paid, don’t forget these exist when preparing your tax return.

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