Interest received on a bank account held jointly with your spouse/civil partneris taxed on you equally, even where the actual ownership of the funds in the account is not 50/50. However, you can send an election to HMRC asking to be taxed onyour actual share of interest where it is other than 50/50. HMRC may require evidence to support your election, such as a declaration of beneficial ownership.
HMRC changes its mind
Until 2011 HMRC wouldn’t allow an election in respect of interest earned on a joint bank, or similar, account because it said it wasn't possible to own money in the account other than50/50. It has now changed its mind, but to take advantage of this you'll need an agreementwith your spousewhich stateshow the capital and interest inyour joint account issplit. This is where you can use oursimple Bank Account Declaration of Beneficial Ownership to show the tax liability according to the respective shares of interest paid.
An election must be made in the exact form specified in the legislation. You can download a form (Form 17) from GOV.UK for this purpose (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/income-tax-declaration-of-beneficial-interests-in-joint-property-and-income-17).
Our declaration can be used to support the election.
