Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

masonic

Nick_C said:

subjecttocontract said:

schiff said:

solartom said:

For anyone with an Principality 2 Year Health Habit RS they added annual interest to my account  on its 1 year anniversary

Can only be withdrawn by closing the account which most of us wouldn't wish to. So it's income of tax year 2025/26. 

Surely the tax liability doesn't depend on whether it's something you wish to do or not but, wether you can access the funds......and you can access them in 24/25 tax year if you want to.

If they have added the interest to your account then you have received it.  That money is in your name.  And presumably the interest is compounded so you are benefitting from it.  It will be part of this year's income.

What matters is whether or not you can access it (including with a penalty). Since the account can be closed before the end of the term, the interest arises for tax when credited. Had the account not permitted early access or closure, then it would have arisen at maturity.

masonic

Bobblehat said:

1) Do you think that the new T&C's over-ride the old T&C's for the old RS?

2) How will this affect the potential pay-in to both? If you've already funded the old one with £1000 by December 2024 and start funding in Jan 2025 with £240 in the new and £10 in the old? 
Struggling to get my head around when (if at all) I'd fall foul of any of the above funding restrictions before one or the other RS matures? I assume that the interim interest payments (i.e. paid on 30.11.24 for the older RS and the equivalent for the new RS [31.03.2025?] don't count).

My interpretation would be that you can distribute up to £3,750 between the two, but can only have a maximum of £3,600 in the first. The new terms would not override the maximum balance of the older account, but probably do signify a relaxation of the aggregate maximum balance.

The restriction as written refers to money deposited by you, so interest above this limit should be ok.

KneadtheDough

masonic said:

Nick_C said:

subjecttocontract said:

schiff said:

solartom said:

For anyone with an Principality 2 Year Health Habit RS they added annual interest to my account  on its 1 year anniversary

Can only be withdrawn by closing the account which most of us wouldn't wish to. So it's income of tax year 2025/26. 

Surely the tax liability doesn't depend on whether it's something you wish to do or not but, wether you can access the funds......and you can access them in 24/25 tax year if you want to.

If they have added the interest to your account then you have received it.  That money is in your name.  And presumably the interest is compounded so you are benefitting from it.  It will be part of this year's income.

What matters is whether or not you can access it (including with a penalty). Since the account can be closed before the end of the term, the interest arises for tax when credited. Had the account not permitted early access or closure, then it would have arisen at maturity.

Re: Principality 2 Year Health Habit RS — interest 

Thank you for this. It clarifies things, to a degree, but isn't it simply a case where the interest arises for tax when withdrawn (for example, if I opted to close this account and gain access to said interest before the year end), rather than if it can in theory be withdrawn?

Archerychick

DJDools said:

masonic said:

Nick_C said:

subjecttocontract said:

schiff said:

solartom said:

For anyone with an Principality 2 Year Health Habit RS they added annual interest to my account  on its 1 year anniversary

Can only be withdrawn by closing the account which most of us wouldn't wish to. So it's income of tax year 2025/26. 

Surely the tax liability doesn't depend on whether it's something you wish to do or not but, wether you can access the funds......and you can access them in 24/25 tax year if you want to.

If they have added the interest to your account then you have received it.  That money is in your name.  And presumably the interest is compounded so you are benefitting from it.  It will be part of this year's income.

What matters is whether or not you can access it (including with a penalty). Since the account can be closed before the end of the term, the interest arises for tax when credited. Had the account not permitted early access or closure, then it would have arisen at maturity.

Re: Principality 2 Year Health Habit RS — interest 

Thank you for this. It clarifies things, to a degree, but isn't it simply a case where the interest arises for tax when withdrawn (for example, if I opted to close this account and gain access to said interest before the year end), rather than if it can in theory be withdrawn?

No sadly not, interest is counted in the tax year you can access it. 

chris_the_bee

masonic said:

Bobblehat said:

1) Do you think that the new T&C's over-ride the old T&C's for the old RS?

2) How will this affect the potential pay-in to both? If you've already funded the old one with £1000 by December 2024 and start funding in Jan 2025 with £240 in the new and £10 in the old? 
Struggling to get my head around when (if at all) I'd fall foul of any of the above funding restrictions before one or the other RS matures? I assume that the interim interest payments (i.e. paid on 30.11.24 for the older RS and the equivalent for the new RS [31.03.2025?] don't count).

My interpretation would be that you can distribute up to £3,750 between the two, but can only have a maximum of £3,600 in the first. The new terms would not override the maximum balance of the older account, but probably do signify a relaxation of the aggregate maximum balance.

The restriction as written refers to money deposited by you, so interest above this limit should be ok.

Market Harborough
I think the £3750 limit across two accounts if you open the RS (31.03.2026) supersedes the £3000 stipulation for RS (30.11.2025)The new terms override the old as the new clearly state you can have £3750 across the two accounts.

masonic

DJDools said:

masonic said:

Nick_C said:

subjecttocontract said:

schiff said:

solartom said:

For anyone with an Principality 2 Year Health Habit RS they added annual interest to my account  on its 1 year anniversary

Can only be withdrawn by closing the account which most of us wouldn't wish to. So it's income of tax year 2025/26. 

Surely the tax liability doesn't depend on whether it's something you wish to do or not but, wether you can access the funds......and you can access them in 24/25 tax year if you want to.

If they have added the interest to your account then you have received it.  That money is in your name.  And presumably the interest is compounded so you are benefitting from it.  It will be part of this year's income.

What matters is whether or not you can access it (including with a penalty). Since the account can be closed before the end of the term, the interest arises for tax when credited. Had the account not permitted early access or closure, then it would have arisen at maturity.

Re: Principality 2 Year Health Habit RS — interest 

Thank you for this. It clarifies things, to a degree, but isn't it simply a case where the interest arises for tax when withdrawn (for example, if I opted to close this account and gain access to said interest before the year end), rather than if it can in theory be withdrawn?

No it isn't. Otherwise we could go on accumulating interest in savings accounts without it being taxable (rather like how capital gains tax works). Clearly interest doesn't work like this.

Unless the T&Cs of the account prohibit you from accessing the interest, then it is taxable when it is credited. In the instance that you are prevented from accessing the interest, it is considered that it hasn't actually been made available to you.

If you are free to withdraw the interest without penalty, or if you can withdraw the interest subject to a penalty, or if you can close the account early to access the interest, then in all of these cases it is taxable when credited.

masonic

chris_the_bee said:

masonic said:

Bobblehat said:

1) Do you think that the new T&C's over-ride the old T&C's for the old RS?

2) How will this affect the potential pay-in to both? If you've already funded the old one with £1000 by December 2024 and start funding in Jan 2025 with £240 in the new and £10 in the old? 
Struggling to get my head around when (if at all) I'd fall foul of any of the above funding restrictions before one or the other RS matures? I assume that the interim interest payments (i.e. paid on 30.11.24 for the older RS and the equivalent for the new RS [31.03.2025?] don't count).

My interpretation would be that you can distribute up to £3,750 between the two, but can only have a maximum of £3,600 in the first. The new terms would not override the maximum balance of the older account, but probably do signify a relaxation of the aggregate maximum balance.

The restriction as written refers to money deposited by you, so interest above this limit should be ok.

Market Harborough
I think the £3750 limit across two accounts if you open the RS (31.03.2026) supersedes the £3000 stipulation for RS (30.11.2025)The new terms override the old as the new clearly state you can have £3750 across the two accounts.

That is correct, and that is why I said "The new terms would not override the maximum balance of the older account, but probably do signify a relaxation of the aggregate maximum balance". The new terms do not change how much you are allowed to pay into the older account.

Bobblehat

masonic said:

chris_the_bee said:

masonic said:

Bobblehat said:

1) Do you think that the new T&C's over-ride the old T&C's for the old RS?

2) How will this affect the potential pay-in to both? If you've already funded the old one with £1000 by December 2024 and start funding in Jan 2025 with £240 in the new and £10 in the old? 
Struggling to get my head around when (if at all) I'd fall foul of any of the above funding restrictions before one or the other RS matures? I assume that the interim interest payments (i.e. paid on 30.11.24 for the older RS and the equivalent for the new RS [31.03.2025?] don't count).

My interpretation would be that you can distribute up to £3,750 between the two, but can only have a maximum of £3,600 in the first. The new terms would not override the maximum balance of the older account, but probably do signify a relaxation of the aggregate maximum balance.

The restriction as written refers to money deposited by you, so interest above this limit should be ok.

Market Harborough
I think the £3750 limit across two accounts if you open the RS (31.03.2026) supersedes the £3000 stipulation for RS (30.11.2025)The new terms override the old as the new clearly state you can have £3750 across the two accounts.

That is correct, and that is why I said "The new terms would not override the maximum balance of the older account, but probably do signify a relaxation of the aggregate maximum balance". The new terms do not change how much you are allowed to pay into the older account.

I guess that if I were to open the new one, fund it with £240pm and fund the old one with £10pm from Jan 25 on, then I won't anyway near exceed the £3000 limit on the old RS! So no problem there!

It looks like, if I've done the maths correctly, that I would reach exactly £3750 in total over the two accounts on 3rd November 2025 (1st is a Saturday). Come the end of November the first RS matures and from then on I can actually fund the newer RS with £250pm and not break the £3750 limit right up to maturity in 31.03.26 with £3640 in there!

 If anyone spots an error below or flaw in my thinking, please let me know!

exel1966

Not an error/flaw, more an observation, but why open the 2nd one this month, just leave it until the 1st or 2nd Jan? It's vaguely possible that if opened in Dec and not funded you may fall foul of the min £10 monthly deposit even though you have 10 days to fund. Those two rules rather contradict one another, however I'm sure the latter rule would override the minimum

Also, if requiring extra funds ready in time for Xmas 25 you could adjust the split from 10/240 at some point to whatever you think you'll need.

For those who worry about CoP.

• Please note Confirmation of Payee (CoP) will not work for 24 hours after you initially set up your account, for details of the scheme please see our CoP webpage 

Bridlington1

qbadger said:

Also perhaps worth noting that according to the Issue 2 Terms, an account opened this month "...must be credited with between £10 and £250 per calendar month". This condition can not seemingly be met if you have already fully funded Issue 1 this month and the combined monthly deposit rule is enforced in practice.

https://mhbs.co.uk/document/1YR02/

Though that term makes no difference for this month anyway.

If you miss more than one payment in a calendar year the account is transferred into an EA account, but it is currently the final month of the calendar year anyway, if you open the account in December it is not possible to miss more than one payment this calendar year so if you miss this payment nothing happens and the year resets in January leaving you in the same position as you would be had you opened the account in January so far as meeting that term is concerned.

If you have a fully funded Issue 1 the only real difference by opening in December vs January is that assuming they enforce the rule about only being able to deposit £250 between them is that your funding window for making your initial deposit is reduced if you open it in December.