Can you transfer your personal savings allowance to your wife /husband?

Sg28

justwhat said:

Wife has all the savings. In her accounts and Husband has no savings.

How can the husband use the £1000 personal savings allowance. (We would like to avoid having savings in joint names or transferring savings.)

Easy, wife sends husband some of her savings to use up his psa plus any ISA allowance. 

There needs to be a high level of trust in the marriage that the husband won't run off the money. But other than that its a perfectly good tax efficient way for couples to save. 

Eco_Miser

Emmia said:

housebuyer143 said:

No,she can give all his money to him though for safe keeping.

Which is then the legal property of the wife, to do with as she pleases.

No, it's currently her legal property, she would be giving some of it to him and it would become his to do with as he pleases.

Opposite way round to the situation normally posed.

housebuyer143

Emmia said:

housebuyer143 said:

No,she can give all his money to him though for safe keeping.

Which is then the legal property of the wife, to do with as she pleases.

Yes, but suppose it's about trust. I hold all my husband's savings and there is no problem, I have no inclination to steal it.

xylophone

Wife has all the savings. In her accounts and Husband has no savings.

How can the husband use the £1000 personal savings allowance. (We would like to avoid having savings in joint names or transferring savings.)

https://www.gov.uk/apply-tax-free-interest-on-savings

See above.

For anybody to be able to use the allowance, he /she would need to hold the savings accounts in his/her own name.

The savings allowance is not transferable.

Emmia

Eco_Miser said:

Emmia said:

housebuyer143 said:

No,she can give all his money to him though for safe keeping.

Which is then the legal property of the wife, to do with as she pleases.

No, it's currently her legal property, she would be giving some of it to him and it would become his to do with as he pleases.

Opposite way round to the situation normally posed.

Ok, it becomes his property - she has to agree to giving up, what is currently her property. He may have given her the money, but she's under no real obligation to give it back - other than impact on marriage/relationship of refusing.

Qyburn

ZeroSum said:
(There isn't much choice for joint savings options either)

Shawbrook do joint accounts and are near the top rate.

masonic

Emmia said:

Eco_Miser said:

Emmia said:

housebuyer143 said:

No,she can give all his money to him though for safe keeping.

Which is then the legal property of the wife, to do with as she pleases.

No, it's currently her legal property, she would be giving some of it to him and it would become his to do with as he pleases.

Opposite way round to the situation normally posed.

Ok, it becomes his property - she has to agree to giving up, what is currently her property. He may have given her the money, but she's under no real obligation to give it back - other than impact on marriage/relationship of refusing.

Or perhaps he was being chased by creditors and he gave his money away to her as a result, in which case it may not currently be legally hers. It's probably not all that helpful to consider the legal status of the money in the absence of context.

xylophone

due to "legal rights" and inheritance.(Scotland).

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/103869

As far as possible the husband wishes to disinherit his progeny?

To earn £1000 in interest  at current rates would require around £25,000 in capital in the husband's name......

masonic

justwhat said:

One of the reasons there is very little assets or savings in the husbands name is due to "legal rights" and inheritance.(Scotland).

Sounds like a bit of a minefield, and there could be 'gift with reservation' type issues that would crop up from such an arrangement if not very careful.

But at least the answer is therefore clear... that to keep up the pretence that this money has nothing to do with his estate, it would be unwise to risk any connection with it. So she should gratefully accept any tax liability on interest derived from the capital.

Albermarle

Qyburn said:

ZeroSum said:
(There isn't much choice for joint savings options either)

Shawbrook do joint accounts and are near the top rate.

As do many other providers ( offer joint accounts) .