Certificate of interest storage

TheBanker

wmb194 said:

TheBanker said:

wmb194 said:

I don't bother to even look at them let alone keep them.

I have to, as I need to declare the interest on my Self Assessment return. 

So do I, I take the data from online statements and keep track of it in MS Money which then spits out the numbers at the end of the tax year. I filed my 23/34 SA on Sunday and I’m probably not up to date with all the tax certificates yet but you don’t need them.

I do the same, although using an Excel spreadsheet instead of MS Money. I like to update this each month so I can keep an eye on how much interest I've accrued, and it's also an opportunity to move money out of lower paying accounts. I spend maybe an hour or two updating this at the start of each month. I use my Excel figures for my tax return, but I check them against the certificates issued by the banks.

Although I have never needed my tax certificates, and I think it's unlikely I ever will, having them all filed away by year means I can easily find them if I do ever need them, for example if HMRC were to raise a query about my tax return (which I know is unlikely, but not impossible)pecunianonolet said:

Thanks all for the answers, very helpful. So far I only cross checked the statements with my own records to ensure it all matches.

 TheBanker said:

in terms of interest, it frustrates me that the banks all report it to HMRC, but HMRC don't show us what's been reported. It would be much better if HMRC produced a consolidated statement once they've got all the figures in - but I appreciate the cost of developing this would not be the best use of HMRC's resources when they don't even have enough people to answer the phone...

You can phone HMRC and request an overview and you get detailed reporting's for each individual account with account number, interest, etc. 

I did request for tax year 22/23 and the numbers are different to my own recordings and their overview doesn't make any sense. Especially some challenger/app only banks didn't report anything. In the end, their underreporting led to the fact that my tax code adjustment is lower as it should be even if it is only out by a few pounds. However, if the interest statements received this year state one number but reporting now suddenly includes the missing amounts of last tax year then my tax code adjustment will be wrong again. 

My concern is that they ask at some point for all the interest statements as it could get messy to sort out, hence my initial request how people store them. With > 40 accounts it's going to take some time.

Interesting that they can produce the information on request - but I'd rather not have to phone! I wonder if they don't make it generally available because they know it's not very reliable and they don't want to be dealing with loads of queries from people saying it's out by £3 or whatever. 

DullGreyGuy

Rename the file using my preferred naming convention and store it in my Tax folder of cloud storage so its automatically in two place (home NAS and cloud) plus can be accessed from laptop/mobile if required. 

ColdIron

TheBanker said:

wmb194 said:

I don't bother to even look at them let alone keep them.

I have to, as I need to declare the interest on my Self Assessment return. 

I've been doing SA for as long as I can remember and in nearly two decades I've never had to use them. In the unlikely event that I'm ever challenged I can get the data online (and I know where from and for when from my records). I bin them on arrival. Life's too short

Having said that I have all my pay slips going back to the 80s. I don't know why either

newatc

I record all interest payments in my financial database, If I or my wife have enough interest to draw attention from  HMRC (as is the current situation) then I print out certificates or statements as potential back-up and storage (never actually needed to use them). 

masonic

TheBanker said:

wmb194 said:

I don't bother to even look at them let alone keep them.

I have to, as I need to declare the interest on my Self Assessment return. 

I am unable to use them for that purpose as I declare interest on an arising basis. This is what HMRC advises people do, but providers report interest credited, even when inaccessible during the tax year in question.

Beddie

USB sticks are unreliable for storage. External hard drive is better. And cloud storage is the best! Google Drive or Microsoft One Drive are both free for a basic plan, or plenty of paid options too like Dropbox.

gt94sss2

TheBanker said:

wmb194 said:

TheBanker said:

wmb194 said:

I don't bother to even look at them let alone keep them.

I have to, as I need to declare the interest on my Self Assessment return. 

So do I, I take the data from online statements and keep track of it in MS Money which then spits out the numbers at the end of the tax year. I filed my 23/34 SA on Sunday and I’m probably not up to date with all the tax certificates yet but you don’t need them.

I do the same, although using an Excel spreadsheet instead of MS Money. I like to update this each month so I can keep an eye on how much interest I've accrued, and it's also an opportunity to move money out of lower paying accounts. I spend maybe an hour or two updating this at the start of each month. I use my Excel figures for my tax return, but I check them against the certificates issued by the banks.

Although I have never needed my tax certificates, and I think it's unlikely I ever will, having them all filed away by year means I can easily find them if I do ever need them, for example if HMRC were to raise a query about my tax return (which I know is unlikely, but not impossible)pecunianonolet said:

Thanks all for the answers, very helpful. So far I only cross checked the statements with my own records to ensure it all matches.

 TheBanker said:

in terms of interest, it frustrates me that the banks all report it to HMRC, but HMRC don't show us what's been reported. It would be much better if HMRC produced a consolidated statement once they've got all the figures in - but I appreciate the cost of developing this would not be the best use of HMRC's resources when they don't even have enough people to answer the phone...

You can phone HMRC and request an overview and you get detailed reporting's for each individual account with account number, interest, etc. 

I did request for tax year 22/23 and the numbers are different to my own recordings and their overview doesn't make any sense. Especially some challenger/app only banks didn't report anything. In the end, their underreporting led to the fact that my tax code adjustment is lower as it should be even if it is only out by a few pounds. However, if the interest statements received this year state one number but reporting now suddenly includes the missing amounts of last tax year then my tax code adjustment will be wrong again. 

My concern is that they ask at some point for all the interest statements as it could get messy to sort out, hence my initial request how people store them. With > 40 accounts it's going to take some time.

Interesting that they can produce the information on request - but I'd rather not have to phone! I wonder if they don't make it generally available because they know it's not very reliable and they don't want to be dealing with loads of queries from people saying it's out by £3 or whatever. 

It used to be available online but it was removed some years ago

Bigwheels1111

I scan the certificates into my pc, then email them to myself.
So have a copy on my Pc, 2 email address and a storage ssd.