Paying tax on interest from a National Savings & Investments Easy Access Savings Account (EASA)
The Easy Access Savings Account (EASA) is a new kind of National Savings & Investments (NS&I) account. The EASA is in place of the National Savings Ordinary Account. You can find details at the NS&I website.
If you have an Ordinary Account you may know that the first £70 of interest from these accounts is tax-free. This is not the case with an EASA.
All the interest you receive from an EASA is taxable, but unlike other savings income – such as bank and building society interest – no tax is taken from your EASA interest before it is paid to you.
If you do not normally pay tax
If your income is low (perhaps you don't have a job) you will not have to pay tax on your EASA interest - you do not even have to tell us about it. This will usually be the case if your total income, including the interest, is less than £6,035 for the tax year ending on 5 April 2009. You can work out your total income – and check whether you should be paying any tax – by using the tax checker. Enter your EASA interest in the box named 'UK interest that has not been taxed'.
If you pay tax
If you have income other than your EASA interest - perhaps you have a part-time job - you may be a taxpayer. You are probably a taxpayer if your total income is more than £6,035 for the tax year ending on 5 April 2009. If you are a taxpayer, you may have to pay tax on your EASA interest.
You can work out your total income – and whether you should be paying tax – by using our tax checker. Enter your EASA interest in the box named UK interest that has not been taxed. Or, any HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) office will help you work out your total income, and whether you should be paying tax (see your telephone book under HM Revenue & Customs).
Your EASA interest will be calculated by NS&I on 31 March and credited to your account on 1 April. The amount of your interest will be shown on the statement that NS&I send you for the quarter ending on 15 May. In order to make sure that you pay the right amount of tax, you must tell us:
- that you have an EASA,
- how much interest you have received
The way you tell us depends on how you pay your tax.
If you receive a Self Assessment tax return, you should tell us about your EASA interest by entering the amount in the appropriate box.
If you do not receive a Tax Return, we will deduct any tax you owe from your wages. You must let us know about your EASA interest, or you will not pay all the tax you should. We will adjust your tax code, so that the tax taken from your wages also covers any tax due on your EASA interest.
Contact you local HMRC office to tell us about your EASA interest. You can find the telephone number here – contact us.
