It's getting round to that time of year again - the end of the tax year is fast approaching and it's time to get your ISA organised, so it's just a little bit scary how little people know about ISAs and what their allowance actually is.

The Co-operative Financial services found that 76% of the over 50s don't know how much their annual ISA allowance is, while Barclays found that 42% of consumers are unaware that the new ISA limits come into force on 6 April this year and of those NS&I surveyed, only 15% understood the new limits.

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks have estimated that this ignorance, which has meant people aren't making the most of what they are entitled to, could collectively cost us as much as £13 billion in tax we didn't have to pay.

So, I think it's time to clear a few things up!

There won't be a rise in VAT or other taxes in the budget in two weeks' time, the chief secretary to the Treasury, Liam Byrne has promised.

But it's not going to be a "big giveaway budget" either, he said.

Byrne explicitly ruled out a rise in VAT from 17.5% to 20% - although this is something the Conservatives have not dismissed. He said there will be no new tax hikes in the 24 March budget, which comes six weeks before the probable date of the election.

Britons are set to waste £9 billion in unnecessary tax payments this year, according to the latest Tax Action report, published by financial adviser network Unbiased.

Areas where taxpayers are set to lose out the most include on unclaimed Tax Credits that will cost the nation's families close to £4 billion and avoidable Inheritance Tax payments totalling nearly £2 billion.

It does not have to be difficult to reduce your tax burden, though.

By following a few simple steps, you could save yourself hundreds or even thousands of pounds.

About one in three British adults believe that the forthcoming General Election will be followed by substantial tax hikes.

But while many would be swayed by the tax policies of the different parties when it comes to voting, 86% admit doing nothing to reduce their current tax burden.

Will Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling have their fingers in your wallet, or will David Cameron be throwing cash into your account? Perhaps the third one no one can ever remember will add some minor detail to government policy in the case of a hung parliament.

Anything could happen after the election, which is just a few months away.

Here's a guide to the party's tax policies that will decide how you will fare after the election.

Are you in the wrong council tax band? Many homes are and have been since the early 90s.

So you should lose no time to check your council tax band - it only takes a few minutes - to find out if you are overpaying. You might well be able to slash your current bills and claim hundreds, or even thousands, of pounds back. It was the talk of the office today after someone managed to get £700 back!

So what do you need to do?

More bad news for Gordon Brown's government. The public finances recorded their first January deficit on record after government spending surged while tax receipts dropped sharply.

City economists described the figures as "truly dreadful". There are some worries that the UK could go the same way as Greece. This seems somewhat unlikely, but credit rating agencies have already warned that the UK's triple-A rating could be in danger if it doesn't sort it out its fiscal problems soon.

It's difficult to muster up a lot of sympathy for Robert Gaines-Cooper who, when not living it up in the Seychelles hangs out at his 27-acre estate near Henley, but a tax bill for £30m would dent anyone's lifestyle.

The Court of Appeal ruling that he is to be considered resident in the UK despite having spent less that 91 days per year in the country will put the wind up tax exiles from Monaco to Mexico, but it has wider implications for the average taxpayer as well.

Do you ever have one of those days when you wake up and owe the Revenue and Customs £30 million? Robert Gaines-Cooper had one this week.

The Seychelles-based businessman owes the stonking amount of cash because the High Court has ruled he should be considered a UK resident for income tax.

Even though he spends fewer than 91 days per year in Britain (the usual cut-off point) Britain is "the centre of gravity of his life and interests" it ruled. Over the last 15 years, he has built up a £30 million tax bill.

Funnily enough, both his parents were tax inspectors. Chickens. Home. Roost.

Abusive letters from the Inland Revenue are never welcome, but they seem even crueller on your birthday. But there it was, along with lots of lovely cards, threatening that if I didn't produce a certain document they would fine me £60 a day up to a maximum of £3,000.

This seemed harsher still because I had sent them the document in question a month before. Apparently it had failed to reach the person in question because it's 'a really big building'.

Somehow I feel that if my tax hadn't been paid because – oh, I don't know – internet banking is a bit complicated, or the Inland Revenue's account number is a bit long, this would not have counted as a good excuse.

Guy Hands is clearly the sort of fella who likes making money and it has to be said, he's pretty good at it.

But there is a price to be paid for financial success and in the case of Mr Hands, well he's just decided that he'll give up seeing his parents, his wife or his children just in case he puts his non-resident tax status in the UK in jeopardy.

Unlike some other big earners who said they'd leave the country to avoid paying the new, higher rate tax of 50%, Guy Hands followed suit from Formula One's Lewis Hamilton and did just that which saw him up sticks and move to Guernsey, where he now lives without his family. He said if they wanted to see him then they'd have to go to the Channel Islands because he fears the Inland Revenue is just waiting to pounce should he step back in Blighty.

Considering he owns music giant EMI which he bought after a long stint as a private equity superstar you really have to ask whether it's all worth it, to chuck in the family and live in exile just because you don't want to pay tax. Clearly he already has what most of us would regard as a fortune.