The rules around tax seem to change all the time, and working out what you can and can't claim can be difficult. So we spoke to an accountant who gave us their top 10 pointers for dealing with your finances. As our expert says: "People are not always making the most of the tax breaks that the Government allows, but in some instances taking the time to work out your tax properly can save you a lot of money." Tax tips for free? What's not to love.

Giving often leads to receiving, and unbelievably the Government rewards those who give to charity. "Any charity donation is tax free, and so if you are a higher rate tax payer, giving money to charity can help to increase the amount of money you pay at the basic rate," says our accountant. But how, we hear you ask?

"If you are a taxpayer make sure you tick the Gift Aid box when donating via paper form or online. That way charities can claim an extra 25p for every £1 you donate, and it won't cost you a penny," our accountant says. "In fact, it might also benefit you. If you are a higher rate tax payer the contribution is added to your basic tax rate band, increasing the amount of your income paid at the lower rate of 20% rather than 40%, saving you money."

"Pump lots of money into your pensions if you want to have a comfortable retirement, and in some cases to save yourself some tax," our accountant advises. "As pension contributions come out of your pre-tax salary, if you are on a higher rate tax bracket boundary, putting more money into your pension can bring you back down into the lower tax band." For those earning enough so that they are without a personal tax allowance it might be particularly helpful...

"If your taxable income is over £100,000 your untaxed personal allowance of £11,850 goes down by £1 for every £2 above £100,000. This means that your allowance is zero if your income is £123,700 or above. However, making extra pension contributions can help as they not only increase your pension provision but could claw back some of this allowance by lowering your taxable income. This could give you an effective tax saving of around 60%."

In the same way, putting money into your pension pot can also help families get some of their child benefit back. "Child benefit is progressively cut back if one parent or partner in the household has an income of £50,000, with benefit being totally lost at £60,000."

"But by contributing more to your pension, your gross salary is lowered and you could therefore become legible for child benefit once again."

Capital gains tax is paid on an asset that has increased in value since you bought it. When you sell the asset on you will be taxed on the difference in value. This doesn't include your main property unless you have let it out or it has over 5,000 square metres (just over an acre) of land, but it does apply to second homes. It also applies to artwork and most personal possessions that are worth £6,000 or more, apart from your car.

Higher rate taxpayers can also use pension contributions to save money on capital gains tax. "By upping how much they put into a registered pension scheme, and increasing the amount of their income that they pay tax at the basic rate, they could in turn reduce the rate at which they pay capital gains tax. This could fall from 28-20% to as low as 10%."

As well as the support, love and blissful happiness, our accountant believes that "if you are married or in a civil partnership you should definitely be making the most of the financial benefits of life in a couple". All money and asset transfers between couples are tax-free and without limit. If one of you dies the other won't even have to pay inheritance tax.

"Tying the knot also means you can share your personal allowance." If you pay tax at the basic rate of 20%, and your partner isn't using all of their un-taxed personal allowance of £11,850, they can transfer up to 10% of that to you. That could be up to an extra £1,185 of un-taxed income. And don't worry if you have been missing out, HMRC will back date the payments for the past four years!

If you make over £1,000 in interest on your savings you have to pay tax. This falls to £500 if you are a higher-rate taxpayer and £0 for those on the additional rate of tax. But our accountant says that anyone with any savings at all should think about using an ISA, which allows you to invest up to £20,000 per annum, with tax-free interest.

This means a couple could, between them, invest £40,000 in an ISA. There are two main types: a cash ISA, or a slightly riskier, but potentially more lucrative, stocks and shares ISA.

"Junior ISAs also exist and it's a good idea to get your child saving in this way." Any child under 18 who doesn't have a Child Trust Fund can start a tax-free Junior ISA, and anyone can contribute a maximum of £4,260 per year as of 2018/19. Children aged 16 or 17 can even invest up to £20,000 in adult ISAs.

The Government has launched a new £1,000 property allowance. "For those using Airbnb to rent out their home, or other short-term lettings sites, the first £1,000 will now be tax-free."

But using this allowance comes with a warning. "Although the concept of a £1,000 tax allowance sounds attractive, there are a number of exclusions which are likely to limit its applications. If you live in the property yourself, it is much better to claim the rent-a-room allowance where you can receive up to £7,500 per year without paying tax."

Similar to the £1,000 property allowance, since April 2017 the Government has allowed anyone to earn £1,000 separate to their main income without having to pay tax on it. "This is aimed at micro-entrepreneurs. For example, people who sell on eBay or make and sell their own crafts, don't need to report the first £1,000 that they earn."

Our accountant does have a warning though. "It should be noted the £1,000 threshold applies to income, not profits and there are some complications and exceptions to be aware of. Individuals who qualify for full exemption will need to monitor their income levels year-on-year: if their income goes above £1,000 they will be subject to self-assessment."

It can be tempting to not report earnings if they are outside of your main employment but HMRC are watching. "HMRC will keep tabs on you, and are very good at finding out if you are dodging your tax bills." Their £100 million system – Connect – looks at lots of data, including credit card data, land registry reports, social media, and even your emails to keep track of whether what you are reporting is true to life.

The Connect system even receives data provided directly from Airbnb and eBay to see if those making money out of the sites are processing their income legally and accurately. In an interview with The Telegraph, a spokesman from Airbnb said: "Airbnb hosts want to pay their fair share of tax and we want to help. We remind hosts to check and follow tax rules, send email reminders during tax season and have downloadable transaction histories for hosts."