Do banks still send annual statements of interest paid?

Eco_Miser

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81876878#Comment_81876878

Further pedantry alert: Are you aware that if you have no income other than interest and dividends, you can earn up to £18,570 per tax year in interest without paying tax?

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81877056#Comment_81877056

That still doesn't capture the scenario where dividend income below the annual allowance of £500 wouldn't affect the ability to earn £18,570 in interest income without incurring tax, but I'm not going to try to encapsulate the whole thing in one sentence!

Dazed_and_C0nfused

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81877056#Comment_81877056

It can actually be over £30k if you are are male, married, old enough and have the right mix of income 😉

subjecttocontract

I believe if you add the disability additional tax free allowance you can add another £3130.

lr1277

Let me detail some experiences with Santander and Coventry BS.

In January 2025, closed a savings account and 2 current accounts with Santander. No closure letters/certificates were received. However in I think July of 2025, could still login to their website, and retrieve the certificates of interest for 24/25.

With Coventry BS, the last savings account was closed yesterday. On closing the final account, the online account was closed (was told this as part of the closure process). No idea if closure letters are produced. Probably will have to call up Coventry in the next tax year to request certificates of interest. Quite disappointed the online account was closed.

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81877742#Comment_81877742

I never shut online savings account.

I always leave the minimum balance to keep it open specifically to access the tax year-end interest certificate for insertion of the relevant numbers on my self assessment tax return.

lr1277

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81877802#Comment_81877802

These were my mum's accounts and she likes things neat and tidy. No loose ends.

And I was banking on having online access like we had with Santander. This means a bit more hassle at tax preparation time. I do have some interest figures, but I would like to see what Coventry BS has recorded and make sure they align.

GeoffTF

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81877026#Comment_81877026

Some prefilling is happening already, but watch this:

Pre Filled Self Assessment

They are not doing it to help you!

Frogletina

I've been checking interest paid on closed accounts recently and the way of finding these details online vary considerably.

Both YBS and Skipton were the best I've found so far.

Santander was the worst. If the account is closed you can only get to the closed statements by going via an open account.You can then put in the account number to get a statement but unless you know the exact dates it returns nothing.

I requested a statement in the end by ringing them, but only got a partial statement sent. I wasn't happy that the statement didn't show the description of interest received, and only showed a credit which could easily be missed when checking.

I was sent an end of year certificate on request, but I would prefer this to be automatic or at least available online.

SnowMan

There is no need to continuously log in to check for interest payments.

But whenever you close an account it's a good idea to check your balance first, record this, record any interest payments already made, and then when you then close the account, you can then calculate and record the difference in the amount paid on closure and the recorded balance and that is the final interest paid which you should also then record.

That way you always have a record of interest payments regardless of how the savings institution deals with online/paper statements for closed accounts.

You should normally close accounts paying annual interest when moving all (or most) of the balance out. Because of the way interest is usually calculated if you don't you lose the interest on the accrued interest at date of closure from the time you move it out to the date the interest is eventually paid. Would you rather have say £500 of accrued interest paid now on closing the account, or the exact same £500 (not a penny more) in x months time when the next interest payment on the zero balance account is paid? Closing the old account also saves the inconvenience of having to then move the interest out when it is next paid.