According to recent research, an amazing £10 billion of tax was paid unnecessarily by British taxpayers last year.
Whoever gets into power, the deficit will have to be paid for and that means taxes will be on the up. Personal allowances are being frozen on income tax, with a new 50% tax band coming in for earnings over £150,000 in April.
National insurance (extra income tax to you and me) is also edging up in April 2011, taking the rate for employee contributions to 12%.
There are a few nippy little stealth taxes around too, such as a 50p a month charge on landline phones to pay for super-fast broadband, as well as the usual increases on cigarettes, alcohol and fuel.
There are some things you can do to minimise the attack on your wealth.
Check your tax code is correct, this determines how much income tax you pay, so it's essential it's correct. If not, you could be paying too much tax - or too little, building up a nasty bill when HMRC spot their error (and they always do !).
Simply ask your tax office for a coding notice or check the code on your pay slip. If you don't think it's correct, speak to your tax office. You can claim back up to 6 years' overpaid tax, although this will drop to 4 years in 2012.
It's also worth checking that you receive all the tax credits you're entitled to. For example, 25% of pensioners aren't claiming their full pension credits, that's about 2.4 billion a year, unclaimed.
Likewise, with nine out of 10 families entitled to tax credits (including people without kids), you could be missing out.
If you're able to save, target tax-efficent savings, a cash ISA works just like a savings account but pays you interest tax-free. You can currently put up to £5,100 a year into your cash ISA, and another £5,100 into an equity ISA (you can stick the whole £10,200 into an equity ISA if you are feeling adventurous. Outside of ISA's, make sure you have all your savings in the name of the spouse who has the lower tax bracket so as to keep the tax bill down.
National Savings & Investment products also offer tax breaks. Its index-linked and fixed-interest saving certificates allow you to invest up to £15,000 in each issue.