TAX TIP 2
The Starting Rate Band
For this tax year (2015/16) the starting rate band for savings income was widened from £2,880 to £5,000 and the rate reduced from 10% to 0%. Very sadly, this only applies if your earnings and/or pension income are less than £15,600 in this tax year. So it won’t help most. However, if you do qualify, it’s important that you have the right type of investment to pay 0% tax.
If all of your income falls within the personal allowance plus the starting rate band, in 2015/16 you should be able to register to receive interest with no tax deducted at source. From 2016/17 you won’t even need to register as banks and building societies will start paying interest without deducting tax
The Personal Savings Allowance
If you pay tax at no more than the basic rate, the personal savings allowance will mean you can receive savings income of up to £1,000 tax free in 2016/17. If you pay higher rate tax then the allowance is £500. Either way this is a tax saving of £200 a year. Additional Rate tax Payers won’t get an allowance.
With such very low interest rates this probably means most people will have no tax to pay on their bank and building society accounts. To avoid HMRC being flooded with small tax reclaims, all interest will be paid gross from next year.
The combination of personal allowance, personal savings allowance and starting rate band will mean that in 2016/17 it will be possible to have an income of up to £16,800 before paying any tax. However, it has to be the right type of income, so planning is essential