Pulaski

Sorry, but as the UK is arguably better known for it banks and international banking services than any country other than perhaps Switzerland, that is, pardon my French, a load of old bö11öçķs!

And in any case, you have still failed to grasp that this new initiative is driven data provided by the government to the banks, not the banks combing their customer databases looking for iffy activity.

mrken30

And it is really easy to open a non-national bank account in the UK. Much easier than opening one in the US.

And the following shows the banks are doing all the work themselves and using the Government supplied list. They are not putting the onus on the account holders.

Pulaski

Yes, in deed it is.
I don't agree with that as it is very common for foreigners/ non-residents to have accounts in the US, with either local or overseas addresses. Notable areas where this is true include areas where there is a substantial immigrant community such as Miami, or little Korea in Los Angeles. Anywhere where there are immigrants, there are foreigners opening accounts in the US using their relatives banking experience and/or borrowing their address. .... American banks just love people who accumulate substantial cash deposits and use few other banking services, so long as the money doesn't appear iffy and the customers don't do weird things in the accounts, such as deposit large amounts of cash.
I think you omitted a "not" from that paragraph.

That is something completely different, but not unreasonable under the circumstances, if the account holder is living in the UK, but you and your wife are not living in the UK, so I say again the issue that you started this thread to discuss doesn't apply to you and your wife.

mrken30

The processes I have seen put in place for ERP systems to single out "do not trade with persons", quite often rely just on first name, last name, city and country. It is very difficult, even with city because different countries have different address formats and not all systems are smart enough to deal with that.

I am assuming the bank systems for illegal immigrants will work in a similar way to the "do not trade with" lists supplied by the US Government.

MidAtlantic

Why would you assume that??? There is not the slightest connection between the two things.

mrken30

How would you propose it works? I would think you take the Government database and do a match with the names and addresses of the accounts.

Pulaski

But unless you know how the government is compiling it's data all speculation as to how the banks try to match it to their customer database, is pointless.

I would guess that a starting point would be known foreign passport holders known to have arrived in the UK, but not having departed after at least six months, and who haven't otherwise registered for an NI number.

mrken30

No matter how the Government composes the list, the banks only have so much data on their customers. The banks do not have my NI number, passport number, etc. The only unique identifier they have is name and address.

Pulaski

How is the bank withholding and paying the tax due on your interest income if they don't have your NI number? Just like in the US, banks in the UK routinely ask for the relevant local tax ID number (in the UK that being your NI number) so they can accounts for the tax they are required to withhold.

mrken30

Interest in the UK is taxed at source, same as how MIRAS used to work. The tax is not then given to HMRC under my account. The tax was always taken at the basic rate. If you were a higher rate tax payer, you had to pay extra. Now everyone has £1000 tax free allowance. One of my accounts has been open since I was 8 years old. I did not have an NI number at that age. If you should not be paying tax, you have to claim it back from HMRC.

michali

I am pretty sure that when we were abroad, even though both my husband and I had NI numbers, the bank never withheld funds to pay taxes. We had to submit tax returns each year and at that point would declare any interest accrued on our account.

Pulaski

When you are living abroad (not in the UK), they don't have to/shouldn't withhold taxes. .... But Mr Ken is contending that his bank doesn't even have his NI number.

Pulaski

You are living in your own little world, again.

How does HRMC know you have paid tax, that can be reclaimed if the bank hasn't forwarded tax "deducted at source" citing your NI number? HMRC just takes on trust any number you just happen to throw down on a tax return, do they?

I too have an account/ bank relationship that goes back to when I was a small child, and later when the account was transferred to my signature authority, the bank asked for my NI number, for tax reporting purposes. I can't imagine why you were not asked for yours.

mrken30

Registering for gross interest: forms R85, IF17 and R105

From 6 April 2016, the interest on your non-ISA savings is automatically paid tax-free, so you don't need to fill in forms to register or de-register for gross interest.
This means that forms R85, IF17 and R105 are now obsolete.

mrken30

Got my verification letters from HSBC, HSBC Safeguard. It does not ask for NI number, just asks for a passport and utility bill. They do give me the option to upload to secure online server or mail back the documents.