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Nationwide Fair Share
Comments
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If you are unhappy about the tax, could you reject the Fairer Share? The member saver is not compulsory, so you can put your money elsewhere if the account doesn't suit.
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Pretty sure Nationwide have said that any member can reject it if they want to.
Mine landed this morning - not sure about OH's as yet, we both get them paid to our sole accounts. Mine has already been transferred across to the mortgage.
🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00 at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
Balance as at 31/08/26 = £ 84,500.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
Yes, the terms make it clear that the scheme can be 'opted-out' from (of?).
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I'm a non-taxpayer, so it makes no difference to me personally either way.
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I can't see why anyone would want to opt out of the Fairer Share payment.
Even as a higher rate taxpayer, 58% (after tax at 42%) of £100 is greater than 0% of nothing.
If you want to donate the money (after tax) to a cause of your own choice, fine. But declining the payment on the basis that it is taxable doesn't make sense.
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Might be one of those edge cases where an extra £100 pushes someone over a threshold whereby they lose an allowance or benefit and the net effect is a loss of more than £100.
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I suspect in most cases it's people not understanding how tax works, and then getting on their high horse and refusing it on principle!
🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00 at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
Balance as at 31/08/26 = £ 84,500.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her3 -
Yes, it's worth keeping a current account and another account, usually savings of some kind, open, make sure you've chosen the best of their range for your need(s) anyway. These don't need to be your main account(s), just active. And I've found them really helpful - I would be tempted to switch but I'm not employed so can't prove I can pay off any debt…
Good luck next year…
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The most extreme edge case:
You have earnings of £49,271. You have £999 of interest. (no other income, deductions, no pension contribs etc)
The £49271 has £12570 tax free, and the remaining taxed at 20%
The savings interest gets taxed at 0% as the savings allowance is £1000 (total income is below the 40% threshold).
Earn £1 more in interest and things change:
The £49271 has £12570 tax free, and the remaining taxed at 20% (no change)
£1 of the now £1000 interest gets taxed at 40%. A further £499 of the interest gets taxed at 20%. This is because total income has pushed you into the 40% bracket and your savings allowance has been halved.
So that last £1 costs you £100.20 in tax - a marginal rate of 10020%
The reality here is that if this happened to you, after the end of the tax year, you would make a £1 (gross) 80p net gift aid contribution to be treated as made in the previous tax year. This would expand the basic rate band by £1, restoring the £1000 savings allowance.
As another example, lets start with £49270 earnings plus £1000 interest
Again - no tax due on the £1000 interest
Stick £100 on the interest, and the £100 gets taxed at 40%, and £500 gets taxed at 20% as the savings allowance is cut. Earned £100 more interest, and paid £140 tax.
Same routine applies here - £100 (gross)/ £80 net gift aid contribution and the fairer share becomes £20 in your hand and £80 to a charity of your choice. You're £120 better off, and the charity gets £100.
This bizarre situation could be easily fixed by Treasury/HMRC taxing interest at the appropriate rate, and then giving a credit for the lower of £200 or the notional tax due in the interest, which is what they were trying to do in the first place - cap the amount of tax saved at £200….
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