I wish I had realised this sooner, but I recently discovered two ways of benefiting from tax exemption, which will result in an additional 1020 EUR saved instead of paid to the taxman. So in effect, I found a way to give myself a raise curtesy of the government. I've done this by:

1) Enrolling into my employer's savings plan, which allows me to save up to a maximum of 600 EUR a year, pre-tax. The only catch is I cannot touch the money for 4 years, as if I do I will need to pay tax over the amount. At a tax rate of 34%, this means I earn an additional 204 EUR.

2) Maxing out our employer's pension plan contributions. This year I have increased our contributions by 2400 EUR, which means I will have an additional 816 EUR instead of ginving it to the tax man.


I love this tax exempt saving, as where else would I receive an annual return on investments of 34%?