Santander - can't pay interest gross

ARM10

I went into a Santander branch to ask for details of their E-Saver (Issue 4) product and was informed I could only open and manage the account online. Fine.

I then told the staff member I was eligible for gross tax payment and asked how to file a R85 if I couldn't manage the account in branch. He looked at me perplexed and asked how I could get gross interest on an account... so I explained that my total taxable income is less than the tax free allowance. :eek:

He obviously hadn't heard of a R85 - in fact I felt he didn't know there was a tax free allowance. Anyway he spoke to a more senior staff member, came back after a few minutes, totally ignored my R85 enquiry, and tried to sell me a Cash ISA! :mad:

Has anyone here tried to file a R85 for an E-Saver (Issue 4) ? What happens if the branch claims the account must be managed online only ? (and hence refuse to discuss the R85 in branch)

ses6jwg

ARM10 wrote: »

I went into a Santander branch to ask for details of their E-Saver (Issue 4) product and was informed I could only open and manage the account online. Fine.

I then told the staff member I was eligible for gross tax payment and asked how to file a R85 if I couldn't manage the account in branch. He looked at me perplexed and asked how I could get gross interest on an account... so I explained that my total taxable income is less than the tax free allowance. :eek:

He obviously hadn't heard of a R85 - in fact I felt he didn't know there was a tax free allowance. Anyway he spoke to a more senior staff member, came back after a few minutes, totally ignored my R85 enquiry, and tried to sell me a Cash ISA! :mad:

Has anyone here tried to file a R85 for an E-Saver (Issue 4) ? What happens if the branch claims the account must be managed online only ? (and hence refuse to discuss the R85 in branch)

Sounds like a muppet.

Use another branch, take your sort code and account number for the eSaver in along with some ID, and ask them register it for gross interest.

Tuesday_Tenor

ARM10

Having been a previous A&L customer and only just finding my way round the Santander online system, I discovered this yesterday:

There is an option online to register current accounts and e-savers for gross tax. (Bonds don't appear online).

Within the accounts, goto 'My Details and Settings' and then 'Change personal details'. One of the options there is 'Change tax status'.

I found that my current account was registered for gross, as expected, but my e-saver set up a month ago, and for which an R85 had been sent, was NOT! So have changed it. May mean I get taxed on interest for a few weeks. Teeny amount not worth claiming back, but grrrr .... when I filled in all the right forms!

In fact, I find this online ability to change status rather 'lax'. No mention of reasons for doing it, no declaration that income below threshold, no reminder to change if income goes above threshold .....

So, useful for me. but is it a loophole that anyone could so easily switch. Or doesn't it matter due to info passed from banks to HMRC?

ARM10

Tuesday_Tenor wrote: »

ARM10

Having been a previous A&L customer and only just finding my way round the Santander online system, I discovered this yesterday:

There is an option online to register current accounts and e-savers for gross tax. (Bonds don't appear online).

Within the accounts, goto 'My Details and Settings' and then 'Change personal details'. One of the options there is 'Change tax status'.

I found that my current account was registered for gross, as expected, but my e-saver set up a month ago, and for which an R85 had been sent, was NOT! So have changed it. May mean I get taxed on interest for a few weeks. Teeny amount not worth claiming back, but grrrr .... when I filled in all the right forms!

In fact, I find this online ability to change status rather 'lax'. No mention of reasons for doing it, no declaration that income below threshold, no reminder to change if income goes above threshold .....

So, useful for me. but is it a loophole that anyone could so easily switch. Or doesn't it matter due to info passed from banks to HMRC?

Thanks for the heads up!

I'm surprised there's no mention of this on Santander's website - I wonder if it's an option you click but doesn't take immediate effect and instead notifies Santander staff who (given the level of customer service I read about) may or may not act ?

I guess we'll see when interest is paid!

ses6jwg

Tuesday_Tenor wrote: »

ARM10

Having been a previous A&L customer and only just finding my way round the Santander online system, I discovered this yesterday:

There is an option online to register current accounts and e-savers for gross tax. (Bonds don't appear online).

Within the accounts, goto 'My Details and Settings' and then 'Change personal details'. One of the options there is 'Change tax status'.

I found that my current account was registered for gross, as expected, but my e-saver set up a month ago, and for which an R85 had been sent, was NOT! So have changed it. May mean I get taxed on interest for a few weeks. Teeny amount not worth claiming back, but grrrr .... when I filled in all the right forms!

In fact, I find this online ability to change status rather 'lax'. No mention of reasons for doing it, no declaration that income below threshold, no reminder to change if income goes above threshold .....

So, useful for me. but is it a loophole that anyone could so easily switch. Or doesn't it matter due to info passed from banks to HMRC?

Under the new system the onus is on you, the customer, to prove to HMRC that you are eligible for gross interest should they investigate, not the bank.

hermante

Tuesday_Tenor wrote: »

Within the accounts, goto 'My Details and Settings' and then 'Change personal details'. One of the options there is 'Change tax status'.

Correct, duno why they make it so hard to find though. An NI number is NOT needed for this.

I found that my current account was registered for gross, as expected, but my e-saver set up a month ago, and for which an R85 had been sent, was NOT! So have changed it. May mean I get taxed on interest for a few weeks. Teeny amount not worth claiming back, but grrrr .... when I filled in all the right forms!

You should get any tax deducted (in the same tax year) back instantly, or if not, it should be refunded with the next interest payment. When I registered my esaver 4 months after opening, it suddenly had a lot of extra transactions showing the tax refunded for each month.

I assume it would work the other way so you can deregister after your earnings go over the allowance (i.e. halfway through the year), and it will then take all the tax owed since April (but you will have benefited from a small bit of extra compounding, probably a few pennies)

Milarky

Not only can you instruct them 'in-branch' to register an R85 on a new account, they can add further, newly opened, accounts to the original registration - and they can do that over the phone once you have 'passed security'.

Different people at Santander may tell you different things to this question, but if they claim they ''can't'' they are wrong. I recently spoke to two different people in Santander about doing this for an esaver. Only the third person (in Bootle - maybe they are the ones to ask for?) immediately got the picture and did the registration there and then. I was even more pleasantly surprised to see the previously taxed interest re-credited and in the account the following day.

ARM10

Update

Registered for gross interest online and everything seems to be working fine.
Thanks for all the help and input!

Just a record to help others, I filed for gross interest with 3 banks and here is a summary of events:-

Barclays Bank:- Filed R85 in branch, nice and helpful staff but interest was paid net the following month! Telephone banking was rude and told me to call back another day when the responsible department was available. Problem unresolved, will head to branch again!

Santander:- Tried to file R85 in branch, unhelpful staff never heard of gross interest (see above). Declared gross interest using online banking, everything works

HSBC:- Filed R85 in branch, staff knew exactly what it was and no explanation needed. Gross interest paid the following month. Smooth

hermante

Milarky wrote: »

I recently spoke to two different people in Santander about doing this for an esaver. Only the third person (in Bootle - maybe they are the ones to ask for?) immediately got the picture and did the registration there and then. I was even more pleasantly surprised to see the previously taxed interest re-credited and in the account the following day.

That's interesting, as the HMRC section dealing with this stuff is in Bootle too! I recently wrote to them to complain about some mistake with taxing tax off interest, and they replied very quickly with a letter saying "the bank was WRONG - please show them this letter"

Tuesday_Tenor

And mini-update from me:

Santander: I did eventually receive a letter confirming the registration for gross interest (made online) on that particular account. The letter included the appropriate declaration re level of income and the need to contact them if income increases over the threshhold.

Still slightly out of synch when letter says (in past tense) 'You have registered for gross interest and declared that .......'. Well no, online I didn't make any such declaration, just ticked a box that had no explanation attached to it ....! I understood the implications, but I can't guarantee that everyone would!

But, hey, this is Santander. Probably quite an achievement to end up with the account correct AND the right paperwork, even if the process was a less than crystal clear and a bit jumbled!