HMRC has recently confirmed that there will be no pre-population of bank/building society data in 2017/18 self-assessment (“SA”) returns or in 2018/19 tax codes. This pre-population project was one of several put on hold by HMRC following their review and reprioritisation of current projects.

However HMRC does plan to use interest data for 2017/18 to:

• Populate PAYE income tax calculations for 2017/18. This will result in a P800 tax calculation (or a PA302 simple assessment being issued if the correct amount of tax has not being paid);
• Determine the tax code for 2018/19 on the assumption that the amount received will not change significantly.

When processing the 2017/18 data for sole and joint accounts HMRC will make the assumption that interest on joint accounts is shared equally between the joint account holders. If the beneficial share in such accounts is not 50:50, taxpayers or their agent will need to contact HMRC to correct the information.

Anyone who is not in self-assessment is recommended to check the information on which HMRC has based their PAYE income tax calculation, at least annually. HMRC generally carries forward certain figures assuming they remain the same from year to year. This means they are frequently out of date and therefore incorrect.