Savings accounts for my sons who work abroad

kormachameleon

Hi. I'd appreciate any advice on this:
My 2 sons are British but work abroad, one in Germany and one in Lithuania. I'd like to give them some money which they'd put in a UK savings account. The hurdle is that they're not UK residents at the moment. They both have UK current bank accounts though. 
I just rang the co-op bank to test the water and they said they don't give saving accounts to non-UK residents.
Has anyone got any thoughts on how my gift to them could go into a UK savings account? 
Many thanks.

Hoenir

Keep the money in your name? 

eskbanker

Here's another similar recent thread;

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6586832/probably-stupid-savings-account-question

NS&I may be the best option if they have UK current accounts - presumably the banks concerned are aware of their actual countries of residence?

Olinda99

Working abroad does not mean you are denied uk banking services. People work abroad either on their own or are sent on assignment by companies sometimes for years on end and this does not mean they can't open savings accounts etc

This would only come into play if your sons emigrated and lived abroad permanently i.e became expats

poolboy

Non uk tax residents are denied most decent savings accounts.  The natwest app for eg if a non UK phone is listed, any reference to saver accounts is omitted.  There is an easy solution of course.

wmb194

kormachameleon said:

Hi. I'd appreciate any advice on this:
My 2 sons are British but work abroad, one in Germany and one in Lithuania. I'd like to give them some money which they'd put in a UK savings account. The hurdle is that they're not UK residents at the moment. They both have UK current bank accounts though. 
I just rang the co-op bank to test the water and they said they don't give saving accounts to non-UK residents.
Has anyone got any thoughts on how my gift to them could go into a UK savings account? 
Many thanks.

Why does it have to be a savings account in the UK? You won't be able to open ones for them anyway, they'd need to do it themselves. Given they have UK current accounts they may be able to open ones with NS&I.

https://www.nsandi.com/help/join-nsandi/using-nsandi-outside-uk

kormachameleon

Thanks very much for all your answers. I realise they'll have to open their account themselves. And yes, the banks they have current accounts with know they live abroad.  The reason I don't just open an account myself and put their money in is that I'd be paying tax on the interest. They could earn £1000 tax-free if it's in their own name. So they'd be £200 down if the account was in my name.
But NS&I looks like the best bet even if the interest isn't the best. Premiums bonds maybe (I'm thinking out loud here) as then my boys wouldn't have to do tax returns if they won anything. And the interest rate at the moment is 4% so not too bad (if you win of course). So maybe that's the way forward...

wmb194

kormachameleon said:

Thanks very much for all your answers. I realise they'll have to open their account themselves. And yes, the banks they have current accounts with know they live abroad.  The reason I don't just open an account myself and put their money in is that I'd be paying tax on the interest. They could earn £1000 tax-free if it's in their own name. So they'd be £200 down if the account was in my name.
But NS&I looks like the best bet even if the interest isn't the best. Premiums bonds maybe (I'm thinking out loud here) as then my boys wouldn't have to do tax returns if they won anything. And the interest rate at the moment is 4% so not too bad (if you win of course). So maybe that's the way forward...

Interest and Premium Bond prizes may be taxable in Germany and Lithuania. Just because tax may not be due in the UK doesn’t mean it won’t be in their countries of residence.

eskbanker

kormachameleon said:

Thanks very much for all your answers. I realise they'll have to open their account themselves. And yes, the banks they have current accounts with know they live abroad.  The reason I don't just open an account myself and put their money in is that I'd be paying tax on the interest. They could earn £1000 tax-free if it's in their own name. So they'd be £200 down if the account was in my name.
But NS&I looks like the best bet even if the interest isn't the best. Premiums bonds maybe (I'm thinking out loud here) as then my boys wouldn't have to do tax returns if they won anything. And the interest rate at the moment is 4% so not too bad (if you win of course). So maybe that's the way forward...

The applicability of the personal savings allowance depends on whether or not they're deemed to be resident in the UK for tax purposes, but surely if you accept that, as adults, they'd need to open these accounts themselves, then the choice of which accounts to open with gifted money rests entirely with them anyway?

kormachameleon

eskbanker said:

kormachameleon said:

Thanks very much for all your answers. I realise they'll have to open their account themselves. And yes, the banks they have current accounts with know they live abroad.  The reason I don't just open an account myself and put their money in is that I'd be paying tax on the interest. They could earn £1000 tax-free if it's in their own name. So they'd be £200 down if the account was in my name.
But NS&I looks like the best bet even if the interest isn't the best. Premiums bonds maybe (I'm thinking out loud here) as then my boys wouldn't have to do tax returns if they won anything. And the interest rate at the moment is 4% so not too bad (if you win of course). So maybe that's the way forward...

The applicability of the personal savings allowance depends on whether or not they're deemed to be resident in the UK for tax purposes, but surely if you accept that, as adults, they'd need to open these accounts themselves, then the choice of which accounts to open with gifted money rests entirely with them anyway?

Thank you for replying. Definitely the choice rests with them. But they've both asked me to do a bit of research, hence my post.