Can I put savings in partners name so as to avoid paying tax on interest?

justmyself

Hi there,

My long time partner is not working and does not use her personal allowance. Would it be perfectly legal for me to put only her name on savings account so that she gets paid interest gross and also to remove my name from joint accounts for the same benefit.

Also can you see any problems with taxman as reards this i.e thinking that all of a sudden she has come into a lot of money?

Hope someone can let me know.

Thanks very much

Justin

Gertie_Walker

Its fine as long as its a gift made without reservation - in other words, you cant get the money back if you split up. She would not declare this gift, but it may form part of your estate for IHT if you die within 7 yrs of making the gift.

dzug1

It's not a question of 'putting' or 'taking' names on or off accounts. It's a question of GIVING her the money, no strings attached.

As Gertie says, it's perfectly legitimate.

chrismac1

I've been doing it for years! You need to be able to trust her though - or do it online and make sure only you have the passwords, heh heh!

Blobby8_2

Sounds like fraud to me

McKneff

Its not fraud at all, My OH and i have a joint account, which we get a £5 reward for each month.

We each have our ISAs which we do not pay tax on

Any other savings are in his name as he is a non tax payer.

Where are you getting 'fraud' from.

Its all perfectly legitimate.

HappyMJ

How on earth do you gift something to your partner and then not have that taken into account in a means test enquiry for benefits? Isn't marriage/cp a what's yours is mine and what's mine is yours kind of thing? It's perfectly legitimate and a valid tax minimisation strategy.

dzug1

McKneff wrote: »

Its not fraud at all, My OH and i have a joint account, which we get a £5 reward for each month.

We each have our ISAs which we do not pay tax on

Any other savings are in his name as he is a non tax payer.

Where are you getting 'fraud' from.

Its all perfectly legitimate.

The second bit of chrismac's post by the sound of it.

chrismac1

I don't know where you get the fraud from. It's all legally hers, her name on the accounts etc. But let's just say that if certain of my clients' partners - male or female - had unfettered access to their partners' finances then this would single-handedly pull UK retailing out of the current recession!

lisyloo

It's legitimate, but you need to be aware of the consequences if you split up or need to claim means tested benefits.

dzug1

chrismac1 wrote: »

I don't know where you get the fraud from. It's all legally hers, her name on the accounts etc. But let's just say that if certain of my clients' partners - male or female - had unfettered access to their partners' finances then this would single-handedly pull UK retailing out of the current recession!

'Legally hers' and 'her name on the accounts' are not quite the same thing. If she doesn't have control of the money then it's arguable that the gift was not effective and is just a front for your own tax evasion.

I'm not saying that was the intention but it could be viewed that way.