Unexpected request to confirm tax residency - Halifax

BHsaver

So... has anybody else still not sent the letter back yet?

I received a follow up letter telling me I had to respond by the 17th May. I still have not sent off the letter as I am not comfortable sending my NI number and signature by post to a 3rd party, when Halifax already has this information.

I have written out a complaint letter to Halifax and will send that off today. Based on what other people have said in this thread about the lack of clarity the staff have regarding all of this, I am not hopeful for a proper response.

badmemory

I'm trying to compose a complaint letter to the Halifax that is polite enough for them not to close all my accounts! This performance has made me realise one thing and that is that they have too much of my money (not over the £75k but not far off). If there was ever a problem with them it would be a serious inconvenience. So time for a serious money shuffle.

misled2016

I did not send mine back, but I have not had a reminder. Ì especially wanted to know what happens to original forms with all our information on once they have been scanned into a computer. No answers from Halifax .

Wayne_O_Mac

I'm going to laugh so hard at the rage from you clowns when the banks decide you're not worth the hassle and close your accounts.

John_Pierpoint

This strikes me as utter nonsense. There is not even a check digit in our error riddled National Insurance Number (NINO).
Has anyone filled it in deliberately wrong to see what happens ?

How much of my taxes is being spent on this database - the real crooks will have found a way, like stealing someones identity, to get round it already.

Do we all have the right to demand a copy of our entry under the freedom of information act ?

"your obedient servant" ?

baldybantam

My OH got the same letter from Birmingham Midshires, he no longer has any money with them, it was transferred out autumn 2015. He didn't fill in the first form after reading this forum and also got the second threatening letter. He had spoken to Birmingham Midshires but was not happy with their reply and did not like sending personal information with his signature.

He contacted his tax office last week asking if this was a scam (phone got answered right away). They were unaware of these letters and asked him to forward the letters to them. This was done, he also sent them one of the reply envelopes and a covering letter saying he had spoken to them and he kept copies of the originals.

HMRC said they would make a note on his file about the letters - so if he is reported to them, they already have the information. As he has been retired for 10 years and hasn't had a passport for 50 years, hard to have overseas residency.

He hasn't had an acknowledgment from HMRC, maybe sometime in the future.

BillyBest

I also had a couple of these from Lloyds, I used to work overseas a lot so I have an old account based in Jersey or is it the Isle of Man, I forget which.

I don't mind dealing with my bank, I expect them to be professional, and there is accountability, but returning the form directly to a third party data entry company seemingly controlled by Ernst and Young seems a bit iffy, I have scant regard for the big accountancy companies.

This is seemingly due to an EU directive, my covering letter from Lloyds Bank clarified that the existing reporting requirements under the EU savings tax directive will be phased out and replaced by this new method.

I returned the form, I have nothing to hide, I have always declared this account. However I stapled the form and checklist together in the hope that I cause minor inconvenience to the bureaucrats manning the automatic scanning machine.

realaledrinker

As was noted several pages back, this is Lloyds cack-handed attempt at complying with the US FATCA Act. Wikipedia:


The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a 2010 United States federal law to enforce the requirement for United States persons including those living outside the U.S. to file yearly reports on their non-U.S. financial accounts to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN). It requires all non-U.S. (foreign) financial institutions (FFIs) to search their records for indicia indicating U.S. person-status and to report the assets and identities of such persons to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.[

Cook_County

realaledrinker wrote: »

As was noted several pages back, this is Lloyds cack-handed attempt at complying with the US FATCA Act. Wikipedia:


The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a 2010 United States federal law to enforce the requirement for United States persons including those living outside the U.S. to file yearly reports on their non-U.S. financial accounts to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN). It requires all non-U.S. (foreign) financial institutions (FFIs) to search their records for indicia indicating U.S. person-status and to report the assets and identities of such persons to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.[

Just slightly incorrect. All UK financial institutions are required to comply with UK domestic law; in particular (at present until CRS) the 2013 Finance Act. That part of the 2013 Finance Act has it's origins in FATCA.

smallfry27

I've picked up on this thread a bit late. I am now on my third cycle of letters from Lloyds and Scottish Widows. They obviously don't like something I've sent but their computer won't tell me what is wrong. It keeps sending me the same letter, saying thank you for responding but that I haven't supplied the requested documentation (even though I have).

Odd thing is, I haven't done any business with Scottish Widows since 2009. I did have active ISAs with both Halifax and BM back in April - yet they have never written to me. Presumably they are not bothering with ISA customers due to the tax declarations made for that type of account.