Need self assessment if have 5000 pounds bank interest?

Hi, I am a UK citizen but a non-resident of UK for 20 years. My total income comes totally from the UK as a mixture of state and private pensions (total about 22000 pounds per year in 2003/2004) and bank interest (total about 5000 pounds for 2003/2004 - this is due to a high interest account and the prevailing high interest rates on bank accounts generally so I did not have anywhere near that much in previous years). The bank interest is not taxed at source - I receive it gross. No overseas income and no other UK income. The state pension part is, I assume, not taxed because I am an overseas resident but all the tax for my pensions is taken at source. I am registered for HMRC self assessment but I was told 10 years ago that I do not need to self assess any more and my account currently says I do not need to self assess for 2023/2024 also. I have answered the questions on the HMRC quiz about if I need to send in a self assessment and the answers led to a negative - I don't need to send one in (the only relevant question I can see about bank interest is the one about whether I receive more than 10000 pounds in investments, bank interest etc, which I don't). I recently phoned the HMRC helpline and they told me something about one criteria for the need to self assess is if I have more than 2500 pounds in untaxed income. I have not read that anywhere and is not in the self assessment quiz, but it may mean that I need to self assess for the 2003/2004 tax year due to my 5000 pounds bank interest. My question is this - do I need to self assess for the 2003/2004 tax year?

Hi Spencer,
Based on the information you have given you would not meet the criteria for Self Assessment.
The untaxed income over £2500 excludes untaxed savings.
You can check if you meet criteria here:
Check if you need to send a Self Assessment tax return
Thank you. 

There would appear to be a wider issue here in that Spencer would be taxable in his country of residence on all of his UK income, subject to any double tax treaty stipulating to the contrary. He may therefore need to apply for a NT code to receive his pension gross but that would depend on where he is resident and what any double tax treaty says - or am I missing something?

To respond to the second reply for which I give thanks. I am resident in a country that does not tax global assets and only taxes imported earnings although does have a double taxation agreement with the UK.

Feedback to reply.  

I would like to add something here which I forgot about and which I hope HMRC Admin can answer. In addition to the information I included in my original question, I do have an investment in the Isle of Man, which I forgot to mention. In the 2023-2024 tax year I made a 6% loss on this investment when I cashed it in so there was no capital gains. This year, however, I will make a 6% gain on a new investment in the Isle of Man using the same capital cash. Taking into account that I am a non UK tax resident do I need to submit a self assessment for 2023-2024 or next year for 2024-25 based on these 'foreign earnings'. The quiz on whether I need to submit a self assessment now says I will need to submit one due to the 'foreign earnings' component but I am a foreign tax resident for the UK and I think the quiz applies to UK tax residents. I hope this is clear and thanks for any responses.

Hi Spencer,
This income is only classed as foreign income if you are a UK resident.
As you state you are not then it is not taxable here.
If this is the only reason you thought a return was required then you do not need one.
Thank you.