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Who can claim £5,000 tax-free interest?

Kenhere
Posts: 29 Forumite
Hi, what are the criteria for being able to claim:
The £5,000 0% tax "starting rate" on interest?
The £1,000 "personal savings allowance"?
Thank you.
The £5,000 0% tax "starting rate" on interest?
The £1,000 "personal savings allowance"?
Thank you.
0
Comments
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You don't claim them as such - they are automatic if you qualify.
Not many individuals qualify for the starting rate. Your interest needs to fall within the first £5,000 of your taxable income which rules out 95% of the working population.
The personal savings allowance will depend on what type of tax payer you are (basic rate = £1,000, Higher rate = £500 and additional rate = £0).0 -
As per https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/tax-free-savings/, the £5K starting savings rate applies for those with (non-savings) earned income of less than their £11,850 personal allowance, but each £1 earned above that reduces the 0% starting savings rate by £1, so it doesn't apply at all for those earning £16,850 or more.
The £1K PSA applies to all basic rate taxpayers, reduced to £500 for those at the higher rate.
Further details at http://www.taxvol.org.uk/about-tax/entitled-10-band-savings-interest/ and https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/other-tax-issues/savings-and-tax.0 -
Hi, what are the criteria for being able to claim:
The £5,000 0% tax "starting rate" on interest?
The £1,000 "personal savings allowance"?
Thank you.
Starting Rate for Savings: Any part of your savings interest after earnings, pension etc that falls into a £5,000 band above your Personal Allowance will be taxed at 0%. For most people this will be between £11,850 and £16,850
Personal Savings Allowance: Basic rate tax payers - up to £1,000 of savings interest taxed at 0%. Higher rate tax payers - £500. Additional Rate - £0
https://www.gov.uk/apply-tax-free-interest-on-savings0 -
with (non-savings) earned income
Not only "earned" - see
https://www.litrg.org.uk/latest-news/news/160520-new-savings-and-dividend-tax-rules-–-essential-guide0 -
OK thanks all. I have read the links and it looks complicated if you have income over £17,850, but if you are retired and total income from State Pension, "unwrapped" dividend income, and bank & p2p interest is £17,850 or less then you can have an income of all the following tax free:
Up to £11, 850 income (this can be a combination of state pension, interest, dividends.
Plus: up to £5,000 of interest
Plus: up to (another) £1,000 interest
Why are these two tax free interest allowances separated instead of a flat £6,000 interest allowance?
So if you utilise all the above you can max out £17,850 of tax free income.
But no-where above is the £2,000 dividend allowance mentioned. So if you utilise that, presumably your income goes up to £19,850 but you now lose some of your £5,000 interest allowance or the £1,000 interest allowance, or both?0 -
Ignore, Sorted.0
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Why are these two tax free interest allowances separated instead of a flat £6,000 interest allowance?But no-where above is the £2,000 dividend allowance mentioned.So if you utilise that, presumably your income goes up to £19,850 but you now lose some of your £5,000 interest allowance or the £1,000 interest allowance, or both?
As ever, the convenient word 'allowance' isn't really accurate here, as these are nil-rate tax bands rather than allowances as such, but it's always difficult to condense relatively complex areas into bite-size chunks!0 -
Thanks eskbanker
So it is possible to use the £2,000 dividend allowance in addition to the other tax allowances and achieve a total of £19,850 p.a. totally tax free?0 -
Why are these two tax free interest allowances separated instead of a flat £6,000 interest allowance?But no-where above is the £2,000 dividend allowance mentioned. So if you utilise that, presumably your income goes up to £19,850 but you now lose some of your £5,000 interest allowance or the £1,000 interest allowance, or both?
https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-dividends0 -
Thanks eskbanker
So it is possible to use the £2,000 dividend allowance in addition to the other tax allowances and achieve a total of £19,850 p.a. totally tax free?0
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