No I haven’t gone mad. Well probably not. The 24th March used to be the last day of the legal year, with the new one starting on Lady Day (25th March). In 1751 however this was changed so that the legal year ended on 31st December. However the financial institutions stayed with the old system even keeping the 11 days dropped when the calendar changed to the Gregorian system. This is what wikipedia has to say:
“Several theories have been proposed for the odd beginning of the British tax year on 6 April. One is that from 1753 until 1799, the tax year began on 5 April, which corresponded to 25 March Old Style. After the twelfth skipped Julian leap day in 1800, it was changed to 6 April, which still corresponded to 25 March Old Style. However, it was not changed when a thirteenth Julian leap day was skipped in 1900, so the tax year in the UK still begins on 6 April.”
Wasn’t that interesting? HMRC have never been good at keeping up with the times, they still resist e-mail (although in theory that ought to increase their efficiency many-fold, it doesn’t appear to in practice).
And the point of all this? Well none really but I do want to remind you that if you haven’t maxed out your ISA’s for the year or done anything else that needs doing before 5th April, time is running out!
Have a great week
Paul
Oh and yes I know Mr Darcy (Pride and Prejudice) is firmly in the early 19th century so over 60 years later.