A Barclays customer was surprised to receive messages from the bank after setting up their new account with the prospect of extra charges to pay. The saver contacted the bank over X to voice their confusion at certain some text messages they had received.
They said: “Why am I receiving these texts when my account was setup in branch and why are you trying to charge me to reply?”
They shared a screengrab of their phone screen with two text messages. One asked the customer to “reply ‘yes’, or ‘no'” to confirm whether or not they are “solely a tax resident of the UK and is not a US citizen”.
The other message was a follow up saying: “Hi, we recently sent you a message about your tax residency information – please reply ‘yes’ or ‘no’ oto the following text. Your Barclays team.”
Barclays responded to apologise for the shock caused by the unexpected messages, saying: “I can understand your concern especially if they were unexpected”.
The bank went on to explain that it’s a legal necessity for them to find out their tax details. The group stated: “We’re legally required to collect tax residency information for any customers that have access to the income and assets associated with our accounts.
“Rest assured the SMS is legitimate, please respond YES/NO based on your Tax residency status. Any costs incurred responding will be due to your current network provider.”
Barclays also invited the customer to send them a direct message with their full name, postcode and contact number, to discuss the matter further.
The bank’s website states that “all financial institutions” are required by UK law to establish the tax residency of all their account holders.
They also have to find out any if a customer has any possible connections for tax purposes with another country, and to report this information to the relevant tax authorities.
Barclays warns its savers: “This requirement results from international agreements designed to help tax authorities address tax evasion.
“This is particularly relevant if someone holds assets in countries where they’re not tax resident and may not be declaring those assets, or income, in their residence territory.
“Under these agreements, governments will exchange information about these assets and income with the residence territory.”
If you are unsure about your tax residency status, Barclays recommends to call HMRC to about the issue, or to consult a professional tax advise.
You can call HMRC on 0300 200 3300. The helpline is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm and on Saturdays from 8am to 4pm.
