What is the Personal Savings Allowance and how are my savings taxed?

Every basic rate taxpayer in the UK currently has a Personal Savings Allowance (PSA) of £1,000. This means that the first £1,000 of savings interest earned in a year is tax-free and you only have to pay tax on savings interest above this. Note that if you are a higher rate taxpayer (40%), your allowance is £500, while 45% taxpayers have no tax-exempt savings allowance at all.

Be careful, however, as it’s not just your savings at the bank or building society you have an account with that count towards your £1,000 interest amount. If you own corporate bonds or Government gilts that also pay interest, this will be included. Additionally, if you invest in a unit trust or similar funds that pay what is called an ‘Interest Dividend’, or earn interest on a life insurance bond such as a with-profits bond or on an annuity that's not a pension annuity, this too will count towards your total allowance.

Low income earners can also benefit from a 0% ‘starting rate’ of income tax for up to £5,000 of savings interest. This reduces for every £1 you earn over the Personal Income Tax Allowance of £12,570 (2023/24 tax year). So, if you earn £13,570, your 0% starting rate for savings would be a maximum of £4,000 (£5,000 allowance less £1000 over your tax allowance).

If your overall taxable income (from employment plus your savings interest) is £18,570 or less, you may not need to pay tax on your savings income. This amount is made up of your annual Personal Income Tax Allowance, plus the 0% rate for £5,000 of savings income, plus the £1,000 new Personal Savings allowance. Your income would need to be exactly the same as the Personal Income Tax Allowance to get the full £18,570 benefit.

As this is very complicated, the following examples should help:

• If you earn £10,000 from employment plus £5,000 in savings interest, no income tax will be payable at all. The employment income is less than the £12,570 personal income tax allowance, and the savings income is within the 0% starting rate for savings.
• If your income from employment was £14,000 and your savings interest was £3,000, you would need to pay 20% tax on £1,430 of earned income (anything over the £12,570 personal income tax allowance), but your savings income would be tax-free under the starting rate for savings.
• If you earn £17,000 from your job and £1,000 from savings, you would pay 20% tax on £4,430 of income. The savings income would be tax-free, as £500 would be charged at the 0% starting rate for savings and £500 would be within the personal savings allowance.

If you do need to pay tax on your savings, the amount of tax you pay depends on your tax rate, which in turn is determined by the type of income and how much of it you receive every tax year (6 April to the following 5 April).

A crucial change since April 2016 is that your savings interest is paid gross, i.e. without tax having been deducted. This means it is now down to the individual saver to settle any tax payments they need to pay.

So, if you earn over your Personal Savings Allowance in a tax year, you will need to inform HMRC in order to pay any tax due. They will normally do this by changing your tax code for the following year so that you can pay over the course of the year and not in a single lump sum.

Remember: you don't pay tax on interest you earn from a cash ISA regardless of the amount earned in interest. You can place up to £20,000 into a cash ISA in the 2023/24 tax year.

The tax you’ll need to pay on your fixed rate bond can differ depending on its individual terms, like whether your interest is taken as income, or whether you are allowed to cash in the bond early.

This is because the HMRC states that tax is only payable, “when it is received or made available to the recipient.”  

However, it becomes more complicated because it is also important to note if your interest is paid as income or reinvested into your balance. Savings paid as income will be liable for tax at that point, but there are different rules if it is paid into your account.

Regardless of your intentions to compound your interest, if you can’t access your interest before the bond matures then the HMRC deems the interest to be paid on maturity. This is even the case if your bond pays its interest annually or monthly.

This can create an increased tax liability in the year the bond matures because the total interest earned could exceed your PSA. If you’re holding a longer term bond, which has a term of over a year, it also means that it won’t contribute to your PSA in other tax years. This can be used on other savings accounts if need be.

To find out how you can access your cash, visit our charts and click on the link which says “View Further Details”. From here you’ll be able to view when your interest is earned and if you can make any withdrawals to your funds.

Interest or investment growth earned on a stocks & shares ISA is also exempt from personal income tax and capital gains tax. The full allowance of £20,000 can be invested into a stocks & shares ISA in the 2023/24 tax year.

Currently, you don't need to declare any income or capital gains from an ISA to HMRC on your tax return.

Income from stocks & shares ISA funds that is paid as a dividend is paid totally tax-free. 

Note that if you invest in shares or equity funds outside an ISA, you can now also earn up to £1,000 in dividend income without paying tax on it. However this threshold is reducing to £500 from April 2024. Dividends above this amount will be taxed at 8.75% for basic rate taxpayers, 33.75% for higher rate taxpayers or 39.35% for additional rate taxpayers.

The tax rules for qualifying UK investment bonds allow up to 5% of the original capital to be withdrawn each year with no immediate tax liability. After 20 years, this could theoretically be 100% of the capital.

If you have used your 5% allowance every year, this will no longer be available to you. If you have not used your full allowance, this can be carried forward until 100% of the capital has been withdrawn.

If you make any further withdrawals after this, you will be taxed at an additional 20% for a higher rate taxpayer (as the fund where your money is invested is already taxed at 20%).

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