Declaring uk bank account

[Kalifornia]

Hi there,
I kept a uk bank savings account open for the last few years that had a deposit from work carried out in the uk when I lived there. Deposit was based on shares that were awarded and vested in the uk and have all taxes paid.

Bank account paid minimal interest, <0.1%.

I moved back to Ireland in 2015, back account in uk was set up in 2011.

To fund an asset purchase in ireland I transferred the money back to Ireland in 2020.

I now realise I should have declared this previously but didn't due to near 0 interest being paid. It's seems like in 2017 Irish residents have to declare all foreign bank accounts?

What is the best way forward to deal with this in terms of declaring to tax authority?

 

[dublin67]

You are probably okay. To the best of my knowledge you are required to disclose the opening of a foreign bank account in the year that it was opened. If you were living in the U.K. at the time you opened the bank account there isn't a disclosure requirement as you weren't resident in that year.

 

[Franc1]

I think what Kalifornia refers to is the sort of moratorium that allowed back in 2017 irish tax residents and domiciled persons
with undecalred foregin income to come clean, declare all the previously non declared foreign income and pay mitigated tax and penalties.
This was in light of the new CRS and FATCA agreements that was signed around that time I believe. As Dublin67 says it looks like you are supposed to declare that you are opening a foreign bank account as provisioned in the tax return. I personally think there wouldn't be a high degree of compliance thought. I guess... how many Paypal accounts (Paypal being a Luxembourg registered entity) do we have in Ireland, probably 1 every 4 people. I wonder how many of these people have declared the opening of a foreign bank account

 

[horusd]

I think what Kalifornia refers to is the sort of moratorium that allowed back in 2017 irish tax residents and domiciled persons
with undecalred foregin income to come clean, declare all the previously non declared foreign income and pay mitigated tax and penalties.
This was in light of the new CRS and FATCA agreements that was signed around that time I believe. As Dublin67 says it looks like you are supposed to declare that you are opening a foreign bank account as provisioned in the tax return. I personally think there wouldn't be a high degree of compliance thought. I guess... how many Paypal accounts (Paypal being a Luxembourg registered entity) do we have in Ireland, probably 1 every 4 people. I wonder how many of these people have declared the opening of a foreign bank account

Would Paypal be considered a bank account? I certainly have never disclosed it, nor do I think of it as a like for like with a current account or even a virtual banks like Revolut/N26 and the like - which I also never declared, as I don't earn any income from them.

 

[Franc1]

Hi Horusd. I'm not sure if Paypal is regulated as a normal bank or Revenue considers it as a bank to be honest but N26 and Revolut are definitely digital banks regulated in Germany and UK. I know many people with Revolut accounts, I'm sure none of these pepole I know are even aware that techically they should report the opening of a foreign account....Also there was a thread last year with questions on whether brokerage accounts should be reported , but no definitive answers...the doubt remains

 

[Kalifornia]

Thanks for the info, what made me think I had done something terrible was that the uk bank had frozen the account and made me sign some anti money laundering form before I could access and transfer it out. It was in reference to the 2017 legislation.

 

[horusd]

Hi Horusd. I'm not sure if Paypal is regulated as a normal bank or Revenue considers it as a bank to be honest but N26 and Revolut are definitely digital banks regulated in Germany and UK. I know many people with Revolut accounts, I'm sure none of these pepole I know are even aware that techically they should report the opening of a foreign account....Also there was a thread last year with questions on whether brokerage accounts should be reported , but no definitive answers...the doubt remains

Yeah, I don't think Revenue will lose any sleep over these virtual banks - they are definitely part of the present and the future of banking. All they need to do now is work out how to make money!