Unexpected request to confirm tax residency - Halifax

PAUL7331

I too have just had this letter. So to confirm, can you just log in to halifax online banking and confirm you are a UK resident on there and that's it, job done?

Dunbar63

I have received the same letter from Natwest and have no connection to the USA. I have connections to Ireland though.


Do we need to reply?

Cook_County

Dunbar63 wrote: »

I have received the same letter from Natwest and have no connection to the USA. I have connections to Ireland though.


Do we need to reply?

No. There is no legal obligation.

badmemory

Dunbar63 wrote: »

I have received the same letter from Natwest and have no connection to the USA. I have connections to Ireland though.


Do we need to reply?

Please read the letter carefully as some say that they will close the account if you fail to comply!

naav

Hi everyone

I got a letter from the Lloyds group of banks asking me for my tax residency.

I've filled it out, and sent it via a local branch.

I also went online, and selected my tax residency to be UK (it was blank). I was born in the UK, and have always payed tax here via my NI Number.

1. I didn't notice the online bank website to have a place to put in my NI number. Is there a place for that?

2. From people's previous experience, will the bank be back in touch?

3. Do they contact customers on a yearly basis to again ask for the same information?

4. The letter indicates that if I hadn't completed the above, they would be contacting HMRC. Now that I have provided the info, will they still be contacting them (e.g. on a yearly basis)?

badmemory

What they don't tell you is that they contact HMRC regularly (annually) & give them bank account info - a bit like a P60 from your employer but giving how much interest etc you have earned. The difference is that the info they give will say they do or don't know where you are tax resident. They are using it as a threat to make you comply. If you have an ISA the bank does have your NI number.

Is the letter looking any less like a scam? Good idea to take it into the bank. Did the bank know anything about it? Mine was so long ago now that the bank had no idea what it was about (back in March 16).

naav

Thank you

What they don't tell you is that they contact HMRC regularly (annually) & give them bank account info - a bit like a P60 from your employer but giving how much interest etc you have earned. The difference is that the info they give will say they do or don't know where you are tax resident. They are using it as a threat to make you comply.

Will they still be contacting HMRC even though I have completed the forms, and sent them off via the branch? I have also went online into my account and populated my Tax Residency as UK.

Is the letter looking any less like a scam?

Yes, the letter didn't look fraudulent at all. I called some branches, and Telephone banking; took it into a local branch; and they asked me to fill it in. They told me it'll be sent off.

I also went online into my account, and selected UK for my Tax Residency.

Did the bank know anything about it?

Yes, Telephone Banking, and the local branches were aware of this letter going out to customers.

I just wasn't sure of people's experience as per 1-4 in my post above. :huh:

badmemory

Yes banks are obliged to tell HMRC of any interest paid on your accounts, in the same way as employers are obliged to notify HMRC how much they have paid you & how much tax & NI they have deducted.

Tommygunn

Can someone confirm that I'm ok, as a British citizen living in Italy and paying tax in Italy, to just update my sleepy Halifax account with my Italian residency and tax number(TIN) and not bother sending the documents back?

I've tried calling the number but no one answers after I go through the automated hoops.

Will they check the update on my account and leave me alone?

Cheers,
Tom.

badmemory

I don't know for sure but have you looked at post 214 in this thread which certainly implies that it should work.