The autumn budget is edging closer and closer, but it seems that the chancellor still does not know exactly how it will look.

Rachel Reeves was going to raise income tax, and now she isn’t. The tax-free pension lump sum was feared to be under threat, and now it isn’t. Yet a tax grab on salary sacrifice pension contributions is still understood to be under consideration, as well as a mansion tax on the most expensive properties.

What is increasingly obvious though, is that the chancellor will increase taxes on November 26. So is there anything you can do to mitigate against a painful — and unpredictable — budget?

David Brooks from the pensions firm Broadstone said: “While the headline tax burden may rise, thoughtful financial planning can still limit the impact and strengthen long-term savings resilience.”

We explain what you should (and shouldn’t) be doing to protect your wealth from the budget.

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Keep paying into your pension

The chancellor is said to be looking at limiting national insurance tax relief so that it only applies on the first £2,000 saved into a pension each year.

Sarah Coles from the investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown said: “You would still, however, be able to get valuable income tax relief on pension contributions, so they would still be incredibly valuable — especially for higher-rate taxpayers.”

You can make personal pension contributions from your post-tax net income and they are eligible for tax relief. This means that the government tops up your pension with what you would normally pay in income tax, reducing your overall tax bill.

The first 20 per cent of this income tax relief will usually be claimed for you by your pension company. However, if you pay higher or additional-rate tax, you will need to claim the extra relief back through a self-assessment tax return.

Pension contributions made from your wages through salary sacrifice will benefit from full tax relief at source.

It is also possible to pay up to £2,880 into a pension for your children and take advantage of 20 per cent tax relief.

Use salary sacrifice

While Reeves is said to be considering limits to the Cycle to Work scheme to stop taxpayers subsidising the purchase of expensive bikes, many workplaces also offer employees the opportunity to pay for other services — such as gym memberships, electric vehicle rental or private medical insurance — using salary sacrifice.

As with a pension, this exchange lowers a worker’s income and therefore their tax bill, while often giving them favourable prices on the services they buy.

Be charitable

There are two main ways to reduce your tax bill by giving money to charity. Some employers offer what is known as payroll giving. This allows you to donate to charity directly from your pre-tax salary, reducing your overall taxable income.

Another, more common option is to donate to a good cause using a Gift Aid declaration. Gift Aid offers the donor tax relief at their highest marginal rate, which can be claimed on a self-assessment tax return. It is also beneficial for the charity as it can claim an additional 25p for every £1 that was donated.

You can also carry back charitable donations to the previous tax year as long as the donation is made before you filed your tax return.

Give to family

If you have spare assets, you can use your inheritance tax allowances to pass them on to family members. Every year you have a £3,000 gift allowance, which covers money, goods and investments. Any gifts given within this allowance are not added to the value of your estate if you die, and you can carry any unused allowance forward for one tax year, so if you did not use it last year you could potentially give away up to £6,000 before the budget.

Anything you give away over £3,000 is free of inheritance tax as long as you live for seven years afterwards. However, it is important not to make a rash and irreversible wealth transfer if there is a chance that you may need that money in the future.

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Fill up your Isas

Everyone can save £20,000 into Isas every tax year. This can be spread across cash and stocks and shares options and the Lifetime Isa.

Reports suggest that Reeves is looking to cut the amount that can be saved into a cash Isa, potentially to £12,000, so using up any remaining allowance now could be efficient planning.

Savings interest, dividends and capital growth in an Isa is tax-free. You can also pay up to £9,000 a year into a Junior Isa for your children — the money becomes theirs to manage at 16 and they can withdraw it at the age of 18. Advisers recommend making the most of all these allowances.

Anna Murdock from the wealth manager JM Finn said: “We would encourage everyone to use all relevant tax allowances across Isas and Junior Isas, whether or not you think the rules are going to change — that makes for sound financial planning.”

Last month an average of £870 was paid into each newly opened Junior Isa, which was a monthly record.

Use marriage benefits

If you’re married or in a civil partnership and your spouse pays a lower rate of tax than you, it is possible to transfer income-producing assets into their name to make the most of their tax and Isa allowances.

This means that the income produced from share dividends or cash interest will be taxed at their lower rate, so reducing your family’s overall tax bill.

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Coles said: “If one spouse is a non-taxpayer and the other is a basic-rate taxpayer, the marriage allowance also lets the non-taxpayer give £1,260 of their personal allowance to their spouse, to cut their tax bill.”

It may also be worth transferring any excess income into the pension of the lower-earning spouse so they can use up as much as possible of the annual £60,000 amount you can pay into a pension while still benefiting from tax relief.

Think about your mortgage

Homeowners are probably still scarred from the aftermath of the Conservatives’ Mini-budget, when billions of pounds in unfunded tax cuts sent government borrowing costs soaring and pushed up mortgage rates. Yields on UK government bonds rose sharply on Friday morning amid reports of the chancellor’s U-turn on income tax changes, and there is a possibility that, depending on how financial markets digest the measures in this autumn’s budget, homeowners could again be caught in the crossfire.

About 953,000 fixed-rate mortgage deals are set to end between December and May, according to the Financial Conduct Authority, the City regulator. Next week’s budget could lead to higher borrowing costs, but you can protect yourself from rises by reserving a new rate up to six months in advance. If rates get better in the meantime, you can still switch to a cheaper deal.

You could also reserve a product transfer with your current lender three to six months before your deal ends. Nationwide Building Society said homeowners usually left it until the last month before their deal ended to secure a new one, but you can usually do it earlier.

‘I would have to take less out of my pension’

The retired financial adviser John Simpson, 72, is paying higher-rate tax on his annual pension withdrawal of about £70,000.

Simpson, from Norwich, said a rise in income tax could force him to adjust his pension withdrawals. He is also working out how to limit the amount his pension will be subject to inheritance tax in the future.

Simpson said: “If the rise is limited to the basic rate it will only cost me a few hundred pounds, if it affects higher bands too then I will have to withdraw less to limit the tax cost.”

Simpson said he is concerned that the “constant attacks” on private pensions will stop employees contributing as much as they need for retirement or deliberately restricting what they accumulate to avoid inheritance tax liabilities.

“If private pensions come under attack people will take action. When set against those with public sector pensions with a guaranteed income it doesn’t seem fair.”