NS&I Certificates of Interest mischief?

polymaff

Anyone come across this, this year?

Guaranteed Income Bond statements which include a section called "Interest earned for the 2017/18 tax year" which give a total which includes a payment of interest due and paid after the end of that tax year.

On querying this, NS&I - eventually - replied that "This is because the interest was calculated on 5th April".

This is absolutely irrelevant - isn't it?

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/savings-and-investment-manual/saim2440

grey_gym_sock

oh dear. is this statement presented as giving you the figure you need to include on your tax return? do they issue any other statements/certificates?

Tom99

What exact date was the interest paid into your account?

david78

Mine seems OK. My account balance shows 3066 (66 pounds interest added) (anniversary date was 12 April). The latest statement is dated 10 April and shows

"Interest earned for the 2017/18 tax year
Total interest earned on this Bond: £0.00
You may notice that your statement shows no interest has been earned on your Bond within the tax year 5 April 2018.
Don't worry, this is because your interest will be added to your Bond on each anniversary of investment"

polymaff

grey_gym_sock wrote: »

oh dear. is this statement presented as giving you the figure you need to include on your tax return? do they issue any other statements/certificates?

It is what I've been sent after requesting a statement of all interest paid during tax year 6/4/17 to 5/4/18. The notes under that heading "Interest earned for the 2017/18 tax year" are all about your subsequent HMRC liability.

Tom99 wrote: »

What exact date was the interest paid into your account?

7th April 2018 - which is the correct date according to para 14 of the GIB T&Cs. - interest capitalised to GIB 7/4/18, same value payment out of GIB on 7/4/18, same value payment received in my own bank account 7/4/18.

david78 wrote: »

Mine seems OK. My account balance shows 3066 (66 pounds interest added) (anniversary date was 12 April). The latest statement is dated 10 April and shows

"Interest earned for the 2017/18 tax year
Total interest earned on this Bond: £0.00
You may notice that your statement shows no interest has been earned on your Bond within the tax year 5 April 2018.
Don't worry, this is because your interest will be added to your Bond on each anniversary of investment"

N.B. - this is a guaranteed INCOME bond. I think you are describing documentation for an guaranteed GROWTH bond. The GIB account was opened 7/12/17 and paid interest out on 7/1/18, 7/2/18, 7/3/18 - and 7/4/18.

Many thanks for your thoughts - keep 'em coming.

polymaff

Oh, my! Below - received nine-fold today - is NS&I's attempt to extricate themselves.

Dear Mr Polymaff

Guaranteed Income Bonds annual statement

In April 2018, we sent you an annual statement; unfortunately, the information in the section titled ‘Tax information’ may cause confusion.

Interest payments dated between 6 and 9 April 2018

If your statement includes an interest payment dated between 6 and 9 April 2018 this has been included in the ‘Tax information’ section for the 2017/18 tax year and has been reported to the HM Revenue & Customs in the same 2017/18 tax year.

Interest payments on or after 10 April 2018

If your statement includes an interest payment dated on or after 10 April 2018, this payment, is not included in the ‘Tax information’ section for the tax year 2017/18. Any such payment shown on this statement will not be repeated on the statement you receive next year, but will be included in the ‘Tax information’ section for the tax year 2018/19. Please take this into account when declaring your interest to HMRC for the 2018/19 tax year.

You may want to keep this letter with your statement for reference when completing your tax returns for 2017/18 and 2018/19.

Any questions?
Call us anytime on 08085 007 007 or tweet us @nsandihelp and we’ll be happy to help. We’re here in the UK all day, every day. Calls from the UK are free. We may record your call to help us give you the best service.


Yes, that letter "may cause confusion" and, yes, it would be wise to "keep this letter with your statement for reference when completing your tax returns for 2017/18 and 2018/19" as we've already misinformed HMRC.

Incidentally, I kept my original post brief and so chose not to quote the even more risible sentence (below, my highlighting) that followed the one I quoted from. Wrong again !

I note that dividend payments on 7 April are included in the 2017/18 tax year on the statements you received. This is because the interest was calculated and processed on 5 April. As this will be the same for each investment year, it does not have any effect on your tax return.

polymaff

More at:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/74551114#Comment_74551114