What and when is the HMRC told about savings interest.

dcs34

aroominyork said:

masonic said:

Yes, HMRC will assume the interest was accessible unless told otherwise by the taxpayer. This can result in an underpayment of tax and is a flaw in the system.

Strictly speaking, is it the responsibility of the taxpayer to ensure they are paying the correct amount of tax in each year, and so should inform HMRC if the savings institution has reported interest before it is accessible? 

But from a lay taxpayer position reporting the interest as it appears (and therefore paying tax on it earlier) results in a deminimis difference in tax paid compared to the time / cost / hastle actually getting HMRC to apply their own rules.

T'would be far easier for them to have the moral high ground were they to have simpler rules or actually make it easy for people to self-report savings interest earnings without needing to phone them twice...

TorkseyFern

Thanks guys for all this feedback. As i said it isnt something that I could clarify through google and there was nothing associated with this that I could find on the .GOV site so I think I will let this play out and as she is PAYE the TAX people will take what they deem to be correct and if they have any queries then it can be explained especially as they are the ones that have been told about it directly by the bank and have deemed that the tax is paid in that year.