Raisin Boost Bonus

Aidanmc

Just had a letter today from Raisin with Boost Bonus offer

https://www.raisin.co.uk/terms-and-conditions-boost-bonus/

Is it possible to open 5 same accounts and fund £5000 each to qualify for £50 bonus as long as they are opened different days? Was thinking of 6month fixed rate bond.

masonic

I don't see anything in the terms that requires the savings accounts to be different products.

trickydicky14

Aidanmc said:

Just had a letter today from Raisin with Boost Bonus offer

https://www.raisin.co.uk/terms-and-conditions-boost-bonus/

Is it possible to open 5 same accounts and fund £5000 each to qualify for £50 bonus as long as they are opened different days? Was thinking of 6month fixed rate bond.

Yes you can, that's what I have done
5x£5000 into 6month Aldermore accounts over a period of about 4 to 6 weeks.
I could have opened them over a shorter time but did not have the cash available in one go.

Shedman

Any one know if the boost bonus is taxable?  If so, is it treated as Other Income or Interest? 

masonic

Shedman said:

Any one know if the boost bonus is taxable?  If so, is it treated as Other Income or Interest? 

I can't see how it could be treated as interest as Raisin is not the savings provider who you are opening the account with. If it were other income then they'd need to deduct basic rate tax at source and do not mention this, which they ought to if it were the case. One-off incentives of this sort are not usually taxable.

Aidanmc

trickydicky14 said:

Aidanmc said:

Just had a letter today from Raisin with Boost Bonus offer

https://www.raisin.co.uk/terms-and-conditions-boost-bonus/

Is it possible to open 5 same accounts and fund £5000 each to qualify for £50 bonus as long as they are opened different days? Was thinking of 6month fixed rate bond.

Yes you can, that's what I have done
5x£5000 into 6month Aldermore accounts over a period of about 4 to 6 weeks.
I could have opened them over a shorter time but did not have the cash available in one go.

Opened first of the 5 accounts, then that 6 month aldermore one has disappeared....

trickydicky14

Aidanmc said:

trickydicky14 said:

Aidanmc said:

Just had a letter today from Raisin with Boost Bonus offer

https://www.raisin.co.uk/terms-and-conditions-boost-bonus/

Is it possible to open 5 same accounts and fund £5000 each to qualify for £50 bonus as long as they are opened different days? Was thinking of 6month fixed rate bond.

Yes you can, that's what I have done
5x£5000 into 6month Aldermore accounts over a period of about 4 to 6 weeks.
I could have opened them over a shorter time but did not have the cash available in one go.

Opened first of the 5 accounts, then that 6 month aldermore one has disappeared....

Yes I noticed that, you could still do Aldermore 9 month

Aidanmc

trickydicky14 said:

Aidanmc said:

trickydicky14 said:

Aidanmc said:

Just had a letter today from Raisin with Boost Bonus offer

https://www.raisin.co.uk/terms-and-conditions-boost-bonus/

Is it possible to open 5 same accounts and fund £5000 each to qualify for £50 bonus as long as they are opened different days? Was thinking of 6month fixed rate bond.

Yes you can, that's what I have done
5x£5000 into 6month Aldermore accounts over a period of about 4 to 6 weeks.
I could have opened them over a shorter time but did not have the cash available in one go.

Opened first of the 5 accounts, then that 6 month aldermore one has disappeared....

Yes I noticed that, you could still do Aldermore 9 month

Yeah, i looked at that one and the 1 year at 1.3%

GeoffTF

masonic said:

Shedman said:

Any one know if the boost bonus is taxable?  If so, is it treated as Other Income or Interest? 

I can't see how it could be treated as interest as Raisin is not the savings provider who you are opening the account with. If it were other income then they'd need to deduct basic rate tax at source and do not mention this, which they ought to if it were the case. One-off incentives of this sort are not usually taxable.

I had a panic about this when I woke up this morning, having forgotten about it when I filled in my tax return. I then thought about the cash-back that I receive on my Santander Lite current account. The annual summary shows gross interest paid as zero, but does not mention cash back. My Barclaycard Rewards card also pays small amounts of cash back. Again, it is not shown on my annual summary. Perhaps you are right and payments like this are not taxable. Brokers sometimes pay much larger bounties for transferring accounts to them. Are they tax free?

masonic

GeoffTF said:

masonic said:

Shedman said:

Any one know if the boost bonus is taxable?  If so, is it treated as Other Income or Interest? 

I can't see how it could be treated as interest as Raisin is not the savings provider who you are opening the account with. If it were other income then they'd need to deduct basic rate tax at source and do not mention this, which they ought to if it were the case. One-off incentives of this sort are not usually taxable.

I had a panic about this when I woke up this morning, having forgotten about it when I filled in my tax return. I then thought about the cash-back that I receive on my Santander Lite current account. The annual summary shows gross interest paid as zero, but does not mention cash back. My Barclaycard Rewards card also pays small amounts of cash back. Again, it is not shown on my annual summary. Perhaps you are right and payments like this are not taxable. Brokers sometimes pay much larger bounties for transferring accounts to them. Are they tax free?

They wouldn't necessarily be tax free. In some instances pattern of payments could be considered part of your annual "trading allowance" of £1,000 HMRC gives us to save them the hassle of performing tax calculations on trivial amounts of non-recurring income (aka miscellaneous income). Cashback is a discount on a purchase, so is not income at all. Incentives that are followed with an ongoing account fee could be considered cashback. Likewise a subscription service where you get a bill credit or free usage for making referrals. Though I've generally treated cash payments under referral schemes to be trading income (see https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/business-income-manual/bim100110 ). It is unclear in many cases because the payer of the incentive does not make it clear.

See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/other-taxable-income-hs325-self-assessment-helpsheet/other-taxable-income-2021-hs325

Note in particular: "From 6 April 2017 receipts from self-employment and miscellaneous income of £1,000 or less are exempt from tax and do not need to be reported on a tax return."

GeoffTF

masonic said:

GeoffTF said:

masonic said:

Shedman said:

Any one know if the boost bonus is taxable?  If so, is it treated as Other Income or Interest? 

I can't see how it could be treated as interest as Raisin is not the savings provider who you are opening the account with. If it were other income then they'd need to deduct basic rate tax at source and do not mention this, which they ought to if it were the case. One-off incentives of this sort are not usually taxable.

I had a panic about this when I woke up this morning, having forgotten about it when I filled in my tax return. I then thought about the cash-back that I receive on my Santander Lite current account. The annual summary shows gross interest paid as zero, but does not mention cash back. My Barclaycard Rewards card also pays small amounts of cash back. Again, it is not shown on my annual summary. Perhaps you are right and payments like this are not taxable. Brokers sometimes pay much larger bounties for transferring accounts to them. Are they tax free?

They wouldn't necessarily be tax free. In some instances pattern of payments could be considered part of your annual "trading allowance" of £1,000 HMRC gives us to save them the hassle of performing tax calculations on trivial amounts of non-recurring income (aka miscellaneous income). Cashback is a discount on a purchase, so is not income at all. Incentives that are followed with an ongoing account fee could be considered cashback. Likewise a subscription service where you get a bill credit or free usage for making referrals. Though I've generally treated cash payments under referral schemes to be trading income (see https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/business-income-manual/bim100110 ). It is unclear in many cases because the payer of the incentive does not make it clear.

See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/other-taxable-income-hs325-self-assessment-helpsheet/other-taxable-income-2021-hs325

Note in particular: "From 6 April 2017 receipts from self-employment and miscellaneous income of £1,000 or less are exempt from tax and do not need to be reported on a tax return."

Thanks very much masonic. The cash back on my current account is more than the account fee. Nonetheless, your "Note in particular" covers it all. I was doing the same as (virtually) everyone else, but it is good to see the justification in black and white.