Assistance with UK-Based Savings Accounts (Non-Resident)

dunstonh

I have access to a UK address for correspondence via my son’s address,

You are not a UK resident but an EU resident.    The EU has refused to give the UK rights to retail to EU residents without having a physical office in the respective country and complying with EU rules.

If you try opening account with fraudulent information, as you are suggesting, then you are going to come a cropper.

masonic

IanManc said:

masonic said:

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

Mum161111 said:

I wonder about this possibility - If your son lives alone and is eligible for 25% Council Tax reduction, would he lose this Council Tax reduction if you use his address? e.g. If he was no longer the sole resident as you would be, as far as the bank is concerned, living at your son's address.

How would the council know?

Would need to go on the electoral roll or register for council tax in order to have a chance at being electronically verified. Otherwise register for a utility at the address.

Chances are son is not the only adult living at his address,  so may not be an issue.

If you are an overseas British resident then you can register to vote as a British citizen living abroad which will attach you to a particular constituency and council ward, but being registered at a particular address on the electoral roll if you live overseas would involve making a fraudulent declaration to the local returning officer that you actually lived there, and that is a criminal offence.

Then it does not seem very feasible to claim to a bank that you are resident in the UK when you are not. It won't take much for them to find out the truth.

poseidon1

madeiraboy said:

I am a British citizen living permanently in Portugal, and I currently hold  savings accounts in the Isle of Man and Guernsey However, since IOM and Guernsey are classified as a blacklisted jurisdictions under Portugal’s IRS rules, interest earned is taxed at 35%, which I want to avoid.  

I have access to a UK address for correspondence via my son’s address, and I am looking for alternative UK-based savings accounts where I can deposit and earn interest in GBP, while remaining compliant with tax regulations. Ideally, I am seeking:  

- Fixed-rate savings accounts or bonds with competitive interest.  

- Deposit protection under FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme).  

- Easy-access GBP accounts for withdrawals and transfers.  

- Accounts open to non-resident UK citizens with a UK correspondence address. My current account is offshore IOM.

Could you provide guidance on eligibility requirements, account setup, and any tax reporting obligations? I appreciate any recommendations you can offer.  

I see from the article below the root of your current predicament-

https://www.portugalresident.com/jersey-to-end-banking-secrecy-for-eu-residents/

Investment structuring to minimise tax in EU countries tends to be something one really should plan for prior to taking up residence in the country concerned.

 Be that as it may, you could consider investing in UK Government gilts as a non UK resident which would currently give you an income yield not too far off what you are receiving on ordinary  bank deposits. Presumably you would still be liable to 28% domestic Portuguese income tax on gilt interest payments, but a bit of an improvement over 35%.

Assuming you have cash in the £100k plus bracket you could approach certain UK stockbrokers and gilt portfolio specialists for advice in  this area,   Cannacord Genuity immediately springs to mind as an example.

https://www.canaccord-wealth.com/our-services/investment-management/fixed-income-investing

Incidentally useful to note that for UK domiciled individuals who might still be liable to IHT on death, gilts held by non resident Brits are IHT exempt on death.

Archerychick

Would you not be able to open a savings account with a Portugal bank, if you’re permanently living there?

lr1277

IanManc said:

masonic said:

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

Mum161111 said:

I wonder about this possibility - If your son lives alone and is eligible for 25% Council Tax reduction, would he lose this Council Tax reduction if you use his address? e.g. If he was no longer the sole resident as you would be, as far as the bank is concerned, living at your son's address.

How would the council know?

Would need to go on the electoral roll or register for council tax in order to have a chance at being electronically verified. Otherwise register for a utility at the address.

Chances are son is not the only adult living at his address,  so may not be an issue.

If you are an overseas British resident then you can register to vote as a British citizen living abroad which will attach you to a particular constituency and council ward, but being registered at a particular address on the electoral roll if you live overseas would involve making a fraudulent declaration to the local returning officer that you actually lived there, and that is a criminal offence.

As an aside, if memory serves, the right to vote in UK elections lasts for a finite time, possibly 10 years. At the time of the Brexit referendum, the Brits who hadn’t lived in the UK less than 10 years ago were ineligible to vote.

poseidon1

Archerychick said:

Would you not be able to open a savings account with a Portugal bank, if you’re permanently living there?

Savings rates of interest on Euro accounts are unappealing at around 1.75% to 2% ( ECB bank rate now at 2%).

Compound this with income tax rates of 28% ( for Portugal) and you begin to understand why most expats in the Euro zone generally gravitate back to sterling denominated products for better returns.

There is good reason why expats come to these forums for ideas on how to improve their investment returns. The UK has a far more diverse landscape of retail savings and investment options compared to most parts of the world. Sadly most expats don't realise this until after they have left UK.

lr1277

lr1277 said:

Maybe I am getting my facts mixed up but don’t some savings providers perform a soft credit check before opening a savings account? I think I have seen such a thread on this board. Do you need to be on the electoral roll to complete a soft credit check? 

OP I understand UK HSBC allow you to open a current account with an address in the EU. Don’t know if that extends to their savings accounts.

And if you do need to be on the electoral roll at an address, you will most likely have to pay council tax. Which feeds into the point made by @Mum161111.

I went googling for an answer to my own question. No definitive answers though.

Two of the Credit Reference Agencies (CRA) say being on the electoral roll helps with your identity verification. They did not say whether this identity verification was used in a soft credit check, but I suspect so.

Yes you can be on the electoral roll if you are a British citizen living in another country. According to a gov website, you need to renew this every 3 years, otherwise you will drop off the register. No mention of the 10 year rule I remembered. But I suspect the electoral roll might say words to the effect 'Resident in a foreign country' or something like that. Would that spook financial institutions. Maybe? Would that lead to them not opening an account for you? Perhaps.

Like I said no definitive answers.

masonic

lr1277 said:

lr1277 said:

Maybe I am getting my facts mixed up but don’t some savings providers perform a soft credit check before opening a savings account? I think I have seen such a thread on this board. Do you need to be on the electoral roll to complete a soft credit check? 

OP I understand UK HSBC allow you to open a current account with an address in the EU. Don’t know if that extends to their savings accounts.

And if you do need to be on the electoral roll at an address, you will most likely have to pay council tax. Which feeds into the point made by @Mum161111.

I went googling for an answer to my own question. No definitive answers though.

Two of the Credit Reference Agencies (CRA) say being on the electoral roll helps with your identity verification. They did not say whether this identity verification was used in a soft credit check, but I suspect so.

Yes you can be on the electoral roll if you are a British citizen living in another country. According to a gov website, you need to renew this every 3 years, otherwise you will drop off the register. No mention of the 10 year rule I remembered. But I suspect the electoral roll might say words to the effect 'Resident in a foreign country' or something like that. Would that spook financial institutions. Maybe? Would that lead to them not opening an account for you? Perhaps.

Like I said no definitive answers.

As mentioned in my reply to your post ( https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81487290/#Comment_81487290 ) soft credit checks are used extensively. 

Another name for these is an identity check and the primary purpose is to verify the name, DOB and address of the applicant match those held by the CRA. This will only happen if there are reports from electoral roll, council tax and/or existing credit accounts at the specified address and nothing to suggest the applicant doesn't live at the address.

From IanManc's post, being on the electoral roll as a resident of another country definitely would provide evidence of a fraudulent application should a UK address be used for the savings account application.

gt94sss2

lr1277 said:

OP I understand UK HSBC allow you to open a current account with an address in the EU.

Not online from Portugal though they may allow you to do so in a branch

https://internationalservices.hsbc.com/services/ico/ntb/where-to-open/

poolboy

I moved back to uk from Spain 5 years ago. Before the move I opened uk savings accounts with gbp to earn some interest.  The natwest app for eg, a uk address and spanish phone, all uk saving products not shown.  Soon as uk phone number added, all natwest savings product shown and avail.

Top tip, get a uk phone no.  You ll need it anyway to receive security codes.

Then, with uk bank account as above, you can have what you want.  There is a tick box about being tax resident in other countries, it's the USA they don't like, so your decision what to do.

Good luck, I wish you all the best.