Savers could face a tax bill if they have more than £11,000 in a top-paying savings account.

Savers who are basic-rate taxpayers can earn up to £1,000 in interest before they have to pay tax. 

Higher-rate taxpayers have their personal savings allowance slashed in half to £500. 

Growth: Savers can escape paying tax on interest altogether by opening an Individual Savings Account

Growth: Savers can escape paying tax on interest altogether by opening an Individual Savings Account

Growth: Savers can escape paying tax on interest altogether by opening an Individual Savings Account

Until recently, interest rates were so low that this allowance was more than enough to shield most savers from paying any tax. 

But as rates have risen, it’s easy to be caught out. For example, a savings account from Al Rayan Bank is currently one of the most generous available, offering 4.62 per cent if you lock your money away for two years. 

A basic-rate taxpayer would incur a tax bill if they put more than £23,000 into this account. 

A higher-rate taxpayer would only have to pay in £11,000 to breach their allowance. Additional rate taxpayers have no personal savings allowance at all so pay tax on all their savings.

However, savers can escape paying tax on interest altogether by opening an Individual Savings Account (Isa). 

These are much like other types of savings account, except all interest earned is completely tax free.

#fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle#mobile {display:none} #fiveDealsWidget {display:block; float:left; clear:both; max-width:636px; margin:0; padding:0; line-height:120%; font-size:12px} #fiveDealsWidget div, #fiveDealsWidget a {margin:0; padding:0; line-height:120%; text-decoration: none; font-family:Arial, Helvetica ,sans-serif} #fiveDealsWidget .widgetTitleBox {display:block; float:left; width:100%; background-color:#af1e1e; } #fiveDealsWidget .widgetTitle {color:#fff; text-transform: uppercase; font-size:18px; font-weight:bold; margin:6px 10px 4px 10px; } #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {float:left; display:block; width:124px; margin-right:4px; margin-top:5px; background-color: #e3e3e3; min-height:200px;} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {margin-right:0} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle {display:block; margin:10px 5px; color:#000; font-weight:bold} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage img {float:left; display:block; margin:0; padding:0} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {border:1px solid #ccc} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage img {width:100%; height:auto} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemdesc {float:left; display:block; color:#004db3; font-weight:bold; margin:5px;} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemRate {float:left; display:block; color:#000; margin:5px} #fiveDealsWidget .dealFooter {display:block; float:left; width:100%; margin-top:5px; background-color:#e3e3e3 } #fiveDealsWidget .footerText {font-size:10px; margin:10px 10px 10px 10px;} @media (max-width: 635px) { #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {width:19%; margin-right:1%} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {width:20%} } @media (max-width: 560px) { #fiveDealsWidget #desktop {display:none;} #fiveDealsWidget #mobile {display:block!important} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {background-color: #fff; height:auto; min-height:auto} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {border-bottom:1px solid #ececec; margin-bottom:5px; padding-bottom:10px} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {border-bottom:0px solid #ececec; margin-bottom:5px; padding-bottom:0px} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem, #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {width:100%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {float:left; display:inline-block} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {width:35%; margin-right:1%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent {width:63%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle {margin: 0px 5px 5px; font-size:16px} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent .dealItemdesc, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent .dealItemRate {clear:both} }

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk

You May Also Like

DWP reveals plans to close offices, with THOUSANDS at risk of redundancy

THOUSANDS of jobs within the Department for Work and Pensions could be…

BT delays move to axe traditional landlines for millions of customers – check if you’re affected

BT has delayed its move to axe traditional landlines for millions of…

Greggs starts year healthily as absence of Covid measures drive major sales growth

Greggs has begun the year with bumper revenue growth as it benefited…

We bought our first £126k home in just 6 months despite huge blow to our home ownership dream – here’s how we did it

KAITY and Keelan set themselves a challenge to save for a family…