Income Tax Act 2007 section 809RB

Qualifying accounts

Section 809RB sets out the conditions under which a bank account can be nominated as a "qualifying account" for the purposes of the special mixed fund rules for certain employment income.

• An individual can nominate an ordinary bank account as a qualifying account by written notice to HMRC, specifying a "qualifying date" — the first date on which employment earnings totalling more than £10 are paid into the account, where those earnings come from a tax year in which the individual has both UK-taxable and remittance basis earnings from the same employment.
• The account must be an ordinary bank account (a current or savings cash account) held by and for the benefit of the individual, and must have a balance of no more than £10 immediately before the qualifying date; only one qualifying account may be held at a time, and an account cannot be a qualifying account for more than one person.
• The qualifying account status runs from the qualifying date until the earliest of: the account being closed or ceasing to meet the criteria, the nomination being withdrawn, a replacement account being nominated, an unremedied breach of the deposit rule, or the start of a tax year in which the individual has no foreign earnings within the remittance basis rules.
• Notices to nominate or withdraw must be in writing, include information HMRC reasonably requires, and be submitted by 31 January following the tax year in which the qualifying date or withdrawal date falls — though HMRC may allow a later deadline.