Unexpected request to confirm tax residency - Halifax

Ladylove

Yea ...thanks for all your replies.
A friend of ours says that you should never give anyone your NI number as of it is
a scam then they can stalk your identity etc., Also why would they single out a man
who has very little in his bank...still makes me feel suspicious.

gregswhu26

I have just got one of these letters from TSB (who I no longer hold an account with) I too have never liver outside of the UK. Has anyone who got these letters last year that did and didn't send the forms back had any response from the banks?

David555

I got one of these letters too from the Halifax yesterday. Not happy one bit. I'm just trying to think of what would trigger these letters to be sent. The only options I can think of are the following

1, I opened a online savings account around 6 months ago. Used for a few months before I moved my money elsewhere as the £ was losing value each day and the savings rate was so poor.

2, I've used their online service to send money aboard to Russia (about £6000 in total)

3, I've bought flight tickets using my Halifax debit card

I'm extremely annoyed by this and very much considering changing banks. I have no business with the US, never been. I've made a complaint to the Halifax saying I'm not happy or willing to provide any personal details and all I will do is write a letter confirming I'm a uk tax resident to them. If they can't accept that I will close my accounts with them.

Disgusting really... If I had been to the US a few times then I could understand. As I haven't they've got no right at all to be requesting personal details from me.

Has anyone else refused to send the form back? What was the outcome?

Missus_Hyde

I have also joined the "received a letter from Lloyds Bank" club.

Like the other posters, my first thought was that it was a phishing scam and so I rang the bank helpline, whereby they confirmed it wasn't a scam but typically denied all responsibility for sending it and blamed it on the Inland Revenue ( deny everything, Baldrick! )

So I wrote a stinking letter to "Philip Robinson" the name on the letter, told them I had been a customer of Lloyds for over forty years and that they should be well aware of my tax jurisdiction and pointed out that their letter was badly written, grammatically incorrect and that I didn't take kindly to the faintly threatening tone of it. I pointed out that I did not expect to hear from them again, except to send me an apology.

I don't suppose for a moment that they will send me an apology, but still.........

badmemory

Missus_Hyde wrote: »

I have also joined the "received a letter from Lloyds Bank" club.

Like the other posters, my first thought was that it was a phishing scam and so I rang the bank helpline, whereby they confirmed it wasn't a scam but typically denied all responsibility for sending it and blamed it on the Inland Revenue ( deny everything, Baldrick! )

So I wrote a stinking letter to "Philip Robinson" the name on the letter, told them I had been a customer of Lloyds for over forty years and that they should be well aware of my tax jurisdiction and pointed out that their letter was badly written, grammatically incorrect and that I didn't take kindly to the faintly threatening tone of it. I pointed out that I did not expect to hear from them again, except to send me an apology.

I don't suppose for a moment that they will send me an apology, but still.........

Actually, although I am sure you don't feel it, you were lucky. When I received mine last March the help lines denied all knowledge and didn't recognise the phone number on the letter as one of theirs. I was promised that they would improve the letter etc when I spoke to them (at length, I can when in the mood, winge for England) they may have improved it because there were so many errors it was difficult to see it as genuine. They do not appear though to have kept their promise, why am I not surprised? Still it cost them £50. I am just waiting for them to send my son one & we can do it all again.

missmoose

I received this letter yesterday, it's dated the 12/12/16 So it took over a month to be received. No idea what could have triggered this, my parents, brother and my sister in law all bank with Halifax and I'm the only one to receive this letter. I don't know why they think I have links to the USA considering I recently (May 2016) gave them my NI number to set up an ISA and I've had my main account since I was a child.

So what's the verdict on this? genuine? Not genuine?

Has anyone had any action taken against them for not responding?

More worried about this than I ordinarily would be considering I'm about to by my first house and I don't want to reply and turn out its a scam or not reply and be investigated and effect the purchase (not sure if this is even a possible out come)

booksurr

rather a lot of almost hysterical paranoia on show in this thread

• yes the banks are under pressure from the USA to collect information
• yes the banks may or may not respond to such pressure depending on their own commercial exposure to the USA
• yes they will send a poorly worded letter
• yes you can choose not to reply
• yes if you do not reply the repercussions for you personally are far from clear but unlikely to amount to anything

there you go then...

badmemory

missmoose wrote: »

I received this letter yesterday, it's dated the 12/12/16 So it took over a month to be received. No idea what could have triggered this, my parents, brother and my sister in law all bank with Halifax and I'm the only one to receive this letter. I don't know why they think I have links to the USA considering I recently (May 2016) gave them my NI number to set up an ISA and I've had my main account since I was a child.

So what's the verdict on this? genuine? Not genuine?

Has anyone had any action taken against them for not responding?

More worried about this than I ordinarily would be considering I'm about to by my first house and I don't want to reply and turn out its a scam or not reply and be investigated and effect the purchase (not sure if this is even a possible out come)

Probably genuine. Cover yourself by filling it in & hand delivering to a branch along with a letter headed complaint listing all the reasons you had for thinking it was a scam. Eventually they MAY learn, but I'm not holding my breath.

Ladylove

We made an appointment with our bank manager to get the thing ironed out.
Letter is genuine much and all that it's appalongly unprofessional....bank
manager told us thousands of them where being sent ...even 16 year old are
getting them. Told him we are willing g to fill it in vut have no intentions
of putting any more than name and address!! It seems the letter is going
to folks who have not registered their national ins. no. or DOB.
Nobody's business and could be used for marketing purposes...or whatever!!
Your tax affairs are nobody's business and I intend sending one helluva letter as this has
impacted on my. brain damaged husband.

badmemory

Ladylove wrote: »

We made an appointment with our bank manager to get the thing ironed out.
Letter is genuine much and all that it's appalongly unprofessional....bank
manager told us thousands of them where being sent ...even 16 year old are
getting them. Told him we are willing g to fill it in vut have no intentions
of putting any more than name and address!! It seems the letter is going
to folks who have not registered their national ins. no. or DOB.
Nobody's business and could be used for marketing purposes...or whatever!!
Your tax affairs are nobody's business and I intend sending one helluva letter as this has
impacted on my. brain damaged husband.

If your bank manager told you it is only going to people whose banks do not have their DOB & NI no. they are lying to you. I have ISAs with my bank, which you can't open without them having your NI no. On another occasion they also wanted to see my passport & took a copy - therefore they also have my DOB.

Frankly about this subject they have no idea what they are doing or to who.