The New Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

Bobblehat

Yorkshire_Pud said:

Bobblehat said:

Yorkshire_Pud said:

Basically you never quite know where you stand since interest started being paid gross. It’s a game of catch up. As interest received  rose rapidly since 2022 and especially during 2024/25 I expect to have to pay more than the temporary revision suggests. All I can do is make a guesstimate of tax due and try and make sure it will be there in January 2026 to pay it as a lump sum or face 12 months from April 2026 of significantly reduced monthly income after tax made worse by the fact that as interest rates are now reducing I will be paying tax in 2026/27 estimated based on the higher interest received in 2024/25! Then maybe due a rebate after final revision based on actual interest received in year 24/25 calculated in January. This last bit may be wrong as my brain is getting stewed.

Simples eh!!? 

This sums up the position I feel I am in quite well ... always catch-up, always owing more tax than they took the previous year. If I knew for sure that the figures were right and I really do owe that much tax then I would not be complaining. It's the "not knowing if it's right or not" that bugs me! C'est la vie!

I am still wondering if there is any mileage in closing "duplicate" dormant saving accounts with any particular bank/BS in terms of having no further influence on HMRC estimations of interest earned/tax to pay. If nothing else, it would decrease any spreadsheet maintenance. I wouldn't normally close the very last account with a bank/BS, it makes opening new attractive accounts so much easier.

Getting back to Easy Access and my original question ... my inclination is to close the Gatehouse EAA and leave the Gatehouse ERG open .... I don't have the £1,000,000 problem flaneurs_lobster suggested earlier but appreciate the thought 

They don’t estimate based on what they think you will get in interest from any given account they estimate based on what you actually received so doesn’t matter if you have a dormant account, if it generates no interest it doesn’t get included. If it generates 2p in interest it gets reported. I had loads of accounts like this and HMRC phone line read them out to me, it became quite comical! It’s just the way the system works. The only other approach is opting for self assessment I think and if interest received exceeds £10,000 in a tax year then HMRC will likely tell you to do self assessment as it’s mandatory over 10K interest, going forward but the onus is on them to tell you not for you to tell them as I understand it although HMRC pretends that you should tell them when it’s supposed to be PAYE so taxed by employer/pension provider. Yet another stupid situation brought about by paying interest gross. 

I expect that the higher interest received in 24/25 will pitch some/many into self assessment but because it won’t show until about January 2026 there will be a lag for them to realise. Makes it more important to keep a record of interest received in 24/25 as you have to tell HMRC how much interest you received which they can then cross reference with what information they were sent by the banks which is totally stupid as they could just tell us rather than cause to send in the wrong figures. So it’s PAYE Self Assessment, ludicrous.

Thanks for your considered reply.

As much by luck as by planning, I've managed to avoid the unknown territory of >£10K taxable interest in one year, by shuffling £20K lumps into ISA's for a few years now and shifting some interest into future years using annual paying savings accounts. It's been an "interesting" game trying to "maximise" all interest but keeping under the £10K taxable interest "bar" (if I can call it that)!

It's been a close thing this year, but with decent spreadsheet records and with the recent help(?) of falling rates, next FY should tip the balance away from that £10K self assessment point and more towards tax-free interest. 

Just got to continue paying those tax bills and keep taking the pills, as they say!

Aidanmc

Gatehouse seem to be having issues processing faster payments today.

SJMALBA

Aidanmc said:

Gatehouse seem to be having issues processing faster payments today.

That'll explain why my withdrawal, done just after midnight, still hasn't arrived...? 

RosieRooBear

@Aidanmc & @SJMALBA, Gatehouse use Barclays for payments and Barclays has been down since around 10am and still not back working 😤

SJMALBA

RosieRooBear said:

@Aidanmc & @SJMALBA, Gatehouse use Barclays for payments and Barclays has been down since around 10am and still not back working 😤

Thanks - I noticed that it is showing in Gatehouse online as completed, so the hold up being with Barclays makes sense

SJMALBA

Barclays Service Status. 

https://status.uk.barclays/


Also, on Gatehouse's website:

*** Payment Services - Technical Issues*** We are currently experiencing intermittent technical issues with our payment services systems and as a result any payments being made or received today, may be delayed. We are working hard to rectify this and hope to resolve the issue shortly. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

happybagger

Yes I did a test on Tuesday to make sure withdrawals from GH went through same day. Reassured by that I did a transfer out early this morning to cover all my RS standing orders on Monday, No idea what happens if it isn't sorted.

schiff

Tesco
I have their EA account. Made a withdrawal on the app at 01.10 this morning (31/1). It came with the speed of light, very impressive. But what is very odd is that the deduction from my Tesco account balance is showing as reduced yesterday (30/1). How can that be? 

refluxer

SJMALBA said:

Barclays Service Status. 

https://status.uk.barclays/

Yep, I'm unable to get into online banking on the website - the option to use Mobile PINsentry isn't showing as normal and other methods of ID confirmation also fail. I can get into the app, but at least one payment I made earlier isn't showing as being taken from the account.

It's the deadline for self-assessment payments today - coincidence, I wonder ? Not being able to make a self-assessment payment from a Barclays account (or another bank who use them) could cause problems for some people.

ToastLady

RosieRooBear said:

@Aidanmc & @SJMALBA, Gatehouse use Barclays for payments and Barclays has been down since around 10am and still not back working 😤

Thank you for that. Explains why my withdrawal from Vanquis hasn't come through yet either, as they use Barclays for clearing. Was expecting at close of business today.