Cash savers are celebrating as a rates war has broken out in the savings market, meaning they are getting a much better return on their money than they were a year ago.

The Bank of England has raised the base rate from 0.1% in December 2021 to 1.75% in August and is expected to raise rates by either another 50 or 75 basis points at its next meeting today (22 September).

While these rate rises haven’t been welcomed by anyone with a mortgage or other debt, they’ve given a real boost to anyone with cash savings. Various smaller and challenger banks have successively raised the interest rates they offer on their accounts in order to draw in new business.

YOU CAN NOW GET MORE THAN 2%

Before the Bank of England rate rise last December, the top paying easy-access account offered 0.65% interest, but now the top account is paying around 2%. Competition in the fixed rate savings account market is even fiercer, according to Moneyfacts, with the average one-year bond now paying 2.29% which is the highest rate in a decade.

While this is good news for savers, there is a potential tax hit waiting in the wings. In 2016 the government introduced a new tax break for savings income, which meant that basic-rate taxpayers could earn £1,000 in savings income before they had to pay tax on it, while higher-rate taxpayers had a £500 allowance. Additional-rate taxpayers had no allowance. These allowances have remained the same since the tax break was introduced.

This personal savings allowance meant cash ISA use dropped off a cliff – there was no need for a tax-efficient account if you weren’t going to be paying tax on those savings anyway. But since then two things have changed: firstly, rates have risen so people’s savings are generating more interest and secondly, more people are being pushed into the next income tax break, cutting their tax-free  savings allowance.

HOW DOES THIS WORK IN PRACTICE?

Let’s look at interest rates first. When the base rate was 0.1%, if your savings were earning that amount of interest a basic-rate taxpayer would need to have £1 million in savings to hit that limit. Clearly that is going to be a tiny proportion of the population.

However, with the top easy-access savings account now paying around 2% that same basic-rate taxpayer would only need to have £50,000 in savings to hit the limit.

The fixed-rate savings market is paying even more, which means you’d need to have even less in savings to hit that limit. For example, the top two-year bond pays 3.55%, which means a basic-rate taxpayer would only need around £28,000 in savings to hit the limit.

On top of this, the government hasn’t increased the earnings level at which different rates of income tax are due, and more people are being pushed into the higher-rate tax band (or into the additional-rate band thanks to pay rises). This means their savings allowance is cut to £500, or to nothing if they hit the additional-rate band.

At the top easy-access rate of 2% a higher-rate taxpayer would need to have £25,000 in savings before they hit their new, lower £500 tax-free savings limit.

IS THERE A SOLUTION TO THIS TAX HIT?

Put money into an ISA. Individuals can put up to £20,000 across these types of accounts each year.

However, cash ISAs often pay lower interest rates, so savers will need to do their sums to work out whether it’s worth picking a higher paying non-ISA account and paying tax on their savings interest, or putting it in an ISA and accepting a lower rate.

Beware the fixed-rate savings account

Competition is fierce in the fixed-rate savings market, as banks offer higher rates in return for people locking up their money for longer. But before you’re drawn into the great deals on offer, you need to think carefully.

If you lock in a rate now, you’ll miss out on any interest rate rises that happen during that period for which you fix. This is always something you need to consider, but it’s particularly important now because we’re expecting more interest rate rises in the  coming months.

The current expectation from markets is that rates will rise to around 3.75% by the end of this year and potentially hit a peak of 4.5% in late 2023.

No-one has a crystal ball to work out exactly what will happen and when the best time to fix is, so it’s a personal decision on whether you’d rather have the certainty of the rate locked in now, or park your money in an easy-access account before fixing at a later date. Other people might decide to opt for a shorter fix, such as for one year, so they can hopefully get a higher rate in a year’s time.

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