Best savings account?

DJMK4 said:
Hi all. I'm a higher rate tax payer. On my zopa account I have my ISA which is On its second year maxed .my premium bonds is maxed..

I have the normal savings account with zopa (non ISA). Which has £15k in and shows about £117 interest earned.

As far as I'm aware when it hits £500 interest earned. This is when I start paying tax I believe which is what I want to avoid. As I don't know how much tax it will be and how it is paid ?

I guess I'd have to shift money out of this savings account to something else just before £500 interest earned ? I also assume the counter resets in April?
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You do self assessment, as for how much, google a calculator for this.

Put it into EQQQ the dividend yield is around 0.5% so you need to have above around 100k before you need to think about paying tax on it.
 
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Opened up a new 1 year Triple Access ISA with Nationwide and transferred the money into it... £10k to be used as the "6 month Emergency Fund" Its at 4.1%. I have been trying to get this level for some time now but life gets in the way as it has a tendency to :o

There are some slightly better rates out there but not by much really (I might make another £70 for the year)

Contemplating opening their 12 month 6.5% regular saver but, TBH, I am looking at starting to overpay the mortgage instead.
 
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Richie said:
Opened up a new 1 year Triple Access ISA with Nationwide and transferred the money into it... £10k to be used as the "6 month Emergency Fund" Its at 4.1%. I have been trying to get this level for some time now but life gets in the way as it has a tendency to :o

There are some slightly better rates out there but not by much really (I might make another £70 for the year)

Contemplating opening their 12 month 6.5% regular saver but, TBH, I am looking at starting to overpay the mortgage instead.
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What's your mortgage rate?
 
Richie said:
3.41%

The 6.5% makes about £80 over the year as it's restricted to £200/month max. The ISA amount is not to be touched as it's the 6 month emergency fund.
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I am in a similar situation @ 4.6% though. Regular saver/ISA still my favourite as it means the cash is available should something go really wrong. Mega discipline though!
 
I also like the regular savers it's the spending money I use for the next year's luxury spends.

And yeah, should have an issue like boiler blowing it's accessible, penalty free

At 400 a month or builds up quickly to usable level
 
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Yeah, that's why I stuck it in the ISA they have. You are allowed 3 withdrawals in the 12 months with no penalty so its still instant access. I will be putting £50/month away for "home" stuff to cover things like boiler etc so I wont be leaving myself exposed there and, if a larger amount is required than the "home" account holds, I can access the ISA and then top it back up over the following months by pausing overpaying the mortgage (20%/month overpayment)
 
Just checked a PSA calculator


If i have £12400 in a normal savings account with say an interest of 4.05%

Results​


Amount of savings interest you will earn in 12 months

£500.18

Your PSA allowance

£500.00

Would you need to pay tax on your savings?

Yes





i have tweaked it, and anything over £12400 i think i would have to start paying tax on after 12 months



So aslong as i keep within that £500 interest earned, i wont have to pay tax

Long and short, keep an eye on the interst earned then pull it out the account before it hits £500, or ill have to fill in a self assessment form.
 
Yeh.. My understanding is that if you go over the allowance for interest you'll just get a letter from HMRC with a bill for tax on interest earned above the threshold...?

You shouldn't need to do a self-assessment?
 
DJMK4 said:
Huh.


Iv been using the Skipton savings tax calculator..this says different ..I'll have to check the gov site...


My PSA is £500. It says..
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Right but until you earn £10k in interest you don't need to self assess, the tax is dealt with by an automatic change in tax code when you earn between £500.01 and £10,000 in interest. Over £10,000.01 you need to self assess.

If you go over your allowance
You pay tax on any interest over your allowance at your usual rate of Income Tax.

If you’re employed or get a pension, HMRC will change your tax code so you pay the tax automatically. To decide your tax code, HMRC will estimate how much interest you’ll get in the current year by looking at how much you got the previous year.

If you complete a Self Assessment tax return, report any interest earned on savings there.

You need to register for Self Assessment if your income from savings and investments is over £10,000. Check if you need to send a tax return if you’re not sure.

If you’re not employed, do not get a pension or do not complete Self Assessment, your bank or building society will tell HMRC how much interest you received at the end of the year. HMRC will tell you if you need to pay tax and how to pay it.
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tom_e said:
Right but until you earn £10k in interest you don't need to self assess, the tax is dealt with by an automatic change in tax code when you earn between £500.01 and £10,000 in interest. Over £10,000.01 you need to self assess.
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So then yes I have to pay tax on any interest earned over £500. It's just the self assessment part which you mean :)

I don't want to be taxed lots on my savings or have them adjust my tax code re work so I start getting taxed more on my work income
 
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Screenshot-20241209-221324-Gmail.png


212 going to interest monthly instead of daily, wonder why?
 
MatsyLR said:
Screenshot-20241209-221324-Gmail.png


212 going to interest monthly instead of daily, wonder why?
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What would be the reasoning behind changing it from daily to monthly? The process is automatically processed by computers, so how does it benefit? I have noticed pretty much all of then to do it monthly and not daily now. I know for a fact a company who I held savings with years ago used to pay out daily.
 
Hunterlit said:
What would be the reasoning behind changing it from daily to monthly? The process is automatically processed by computers, so how does it benefit? I have noticed pretty much all of then to do it monthly and not daily now. I know for a fact a company who I held savings with years ago used to pay out daily.
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Still takes processing time and money even if it's automated.
 
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