Did I make a mistake? ISA & Fixed 1Yr Saving Account

luci

cagedanimal73 said:

luci said:

If your tax code changes, you can amend it on the HMRC website and it will update within a couple of days.

Really? And presumably they'll ask and I will pay any tax owed to them at the same time?

[I have never been on thier website so I do not know how these things are dealt with - the last time I had any dealings with HMRC was in the 90s!]

I should have said, if your tax code is wrong rather than changes (I have edited my comment). I checked my HMRC account at the weekend, found that my tax code was wrong, updated it and it was updated by HMRC a couple of days later. It's worth checking your details on there are correct.

refluxer

cagedanimal73 said:

So to confirm what you are suggesting is to open both Zopa-CA and EA accounts then deposit £500 and £9500 respectively into them, and then monthly cycle £500 between both Zopa accounts an my normal current account? Interesting.

You don't need to mess with your Smart Saver account once it's set up - you just need to remember to pay £500 a month into the current account to maintain the bonus on the Smart Saver Access pot, which you can do from whatever other current account you have your salary paid into. This could then either be moved across to the Smart Saver Access pot, or returned to the originating current account if it's needed back there. The Zopa app is good at telling you what you have left to pay in (it doesn't have to be all in one go) and by when, to maintain the bonus.

I actually moved my council tax direct debit to my Zopa current account, as you can get 2% cashback on direct debits of up to £1500 a year (so a max £30) which the council tax more-than satisfies.

Ch1ll1Phlakes

cagedanimal73 said:

Ch1ll1Phlakes said:

You ask what you should do next. Most people in your situation would do very little as you may have small tax bill on your savings but not enough to be worth changing anything. Your options to try an negate a tax bill next year is to either move your regular savings to Premium Bonds or move them into an ISA when the new tax-year starts.

Thanks.
Sorry, noob question incoming on this - so with my current Cash-ISA which runs from November to November, does this mean I can open a new Cash-ISA from April 6th ? 

Yes, your yearly allowance (to be confirmed for 26/27) runs by tax-year that means from April 6th to April 5th of the following year. You can add new deposits to an ISA from April 6th but I'll mention you can open as many Cash ISAs as you want at any time (though there is not much point in you doing this at the moment as you've maxed your allowance).