Do you have savings?

Good point Welshwife.
In France families have to pay for the care of an elderly relative - all members of the family together, means assessed.

Yes - the children are ultimately responsible if the parents run out of money.

jane10 your post gave me Goosebumps, Dads are amazing aren't they

Grannyticktock, I think any government body could find access to your savings history if they deemed it necessary : (

lilypollen, I think you give the banks and the government too much credit! It might be possible for someone with special authority to delve into a particular, named bank account, but there's no record that links an individual's various accounts and financial dealings (even current, let alone going back many years). And banks are so careful about security now, even getting hold of your own records, let alone anyone else's, is difficult enough.

Don't British banks have to send reports to HMRC annually of interest on individual accounts?

Yes I think they do

Yes they do, also company registrars and other financial institutions have to send details of all dividends and who they were paid to.

It has its advantages. If you have savings income the HMRC automatically has information on it so that it is not necessary for you to fill in a tax form every year

What, everybody's accounts, millions of them, all sent to the Treasury, every year? I don't think so! Individuals are obliged now to inform HMRC only if they make over £1000 in interest, which won't apply to most people. Banks do have your NI number, and so I suppose they can keep a list of big spenders or big savers, but the obligation is on the taxpayer to do their own sums and submit their figures if they have a tax liability.

I am currently sorting out the estate of a deceased elderly relative who had loads of different savings accounts. I wish with all my heart that somebody other than me could have traced and claimed all the money due to the estate, but it was entirely up to the other executor and me. There is no central record of these things, more's the pity. HMRC knew what tax had been deducted from her savings interest, but that's all. They don't know what the actual interest rates were or what her total assets were, or what money went in and out of the accounts, or where it all came from or went to.

GTT, I said exactly what you said in your post. HMRC has details of all interest and dividends you receive. They do not have details of where everyone's capital assets are or what they possess. Similarly employers/pension payers make PAYE returns every yearWe are both saying the same thing.

However as HMRC bring together all the information on each tax paying individuals sources of savings and investment income, they do monitor it, so if your interest received suddenly jumped say, from £100 a year to £10,000 a year they may well come back to you and ask you about the source of funds that provided this revenue, in case you had suddenly had some great success in your career that meant an enormous increase in income that you had not declared and paid tax on but tucked a way immediately in an interest paying investment.

HMRC can also investigate your income, savings and spending patterns in a special tax investigation and can force financial institutions to give them details of all your monetary dealings with them.

HMRC also feed all this information to DHSS. So that they can compare the declared income of benefit claimants with what the tax records show and I know someone who had to pay back several thousand pound s of benefit for failing to declare the capital she had in one of her savings accounts.

I don't think we disagree greatly on this, Monica. It seems to me, though, that it's the banks who monitor things in the first instance; for a start, if you pay a lump sum into a new savings account, you are asked to say where you got it (savings, legacy etc). The banks have the responsibility of checking for money-laundering etc, and then inform the authorities if there are suspicious transactions.

I think the in-depth investigations by HMRC would only be possible on an individual, case-by-case basis, when they were alerted to a suspicion of fraud, and even then I think the trail would go cold if you went back more than a few years. The systems are not as robust and all-encompassing as might be imagined. Example: I recently had to re-register with the online Government Gateway system to get a tax rebate due to me; I had already registered a few years ago, but my name and NI number were not recognised and I had to start again as a new client.

Some tax enquiries can go back as far as 25 years and 10 years is not unusual. I knew someone who was the subject of a special investigation. It was horrendous, took years and at the end they were in the clear but they had to try and redocument purrchases and savings that had come and gone and any documents destroyed. I now still keep all my paper records, mainly bank statements, for at least six years, just in case for any reason I inadvertantly do anything that may court suspicion.

monica you are right.

Interestingly the information flow between the various government departments has not always been the case, only in relatively recent years.

You are obliged to keep your documentation for 6 years.

This only dawned on me a few years ago when a neighbour got into trouble for not declaring large amounts of savings in his tax return ( France again, but I think it might be an EU ruling.)
Information is then sent from the tax office to various govt. depts who deal with allowances such as house taxes and social benefits.

Interest earned on savings is shared with the dwp.

My father died in the late 1960s. Hewas being investigated by HMRC for minor misdemeanors, and it was left to me to pay back any monies due.

Thank goodness their house was in joint names so my mother could buy something for herself. In her later years I was given POA, and had a joint cheque book. HMRC questioned the meagre interest accrued in that account. I had to asssure them it was all legit and the monies due were for her only.

That was in the days when you got a decent interest!

I ran a sole proprietor business, and was asked to provide details of that. I did so, but heard of nothing for a year. They did not have the courtesy to tell me all was OK.

I too have boxes of papers , including bank statements, CC likewise, just in case, far in excess of any timescale.

Why dont they pursue the Mr Bigs of fraud.

The family had friends who ran a guest house. Every year they went abroad via Switzerland! Nuff said