"BEWARE the Ides of March" was the warning given to Julius Caesar.

These days those who take an active interest in financial matters would be better advised to "beware the Budget' at this time of year.

Beware in case they haven't stocked-up on all the items that might suffer an increase in tax - form petrol and booze through to, perhaps, investments and even houses!

Every year the Budget is the subject of frenzied speculation about what might happen and there is usually a flurry of activity based on the possible changes that have been talked up the most.

Human nature being what it is, there is often a vested interest behind such scare stories, looking to sell more products or services on the "buy now while you still can" line.

This year has been no different, with speculation about changes to the treatment of dividends, pension contributions and even an increase in car tax that would be effective as soon as it was spoken in the Chancellor's speech.

Only now does one gets to see if one did the right or the wrong thing by either acting on the rumours or choosing to ignore them.

As usual there will be winners and losers, but at least everyone will be able take some comfort in the fact that they will be able to do it all over again next March.

IT'S always hard to believe, but another fiscal year is about to end on April 5. You may be tempted to sit back and reflect on how, as you get older, time seems to go faster, and that when you were young tax years seemed so much longer... But that's about as useful as thinking policemen are getting younger - and you would do better to keep active and make sure your own tax planning is up to date.

That means reviewing such matters as:

Have I taken up all my annual ISA allowance (usually £7000)

Have I maximised my pension contributions (currently at least £3,600 for most but could be more subject to income)

Have I made best use of my annual Capital Gains Tax allowance (£7900)

Have I organised any appropriate gifts within the limits permitted for Inheritance Tax purposes

The list can go on and on depending on how complicated your circumstances are but for most of us each of those items should be worthy of consideration.

So give it some serious thought and don't forget to seek professional advice before you take any action - after all you have a whole 17 days to spare and we all know how time can drag!

Updated: 09:39 Tuesday, March 23, 2004