Inaccessible overseas bank account

Hi there, I came to the UK from Hong Kong in 2.5 years ago. I have had 2 bank accounts in mainland China. Such bank accounts do not issue periodic statements. The only means I could check my transactions and balance was to login to their online banking portal. A mobile phone SIM card bought in mainland has to be used for receiving OTP passcode via SMS text for accessing the portal. For sake of filing self assessment for tax year 2023/24, I had been able to access and record my bank details throughout the years until Dec 2023. Recently when I tried to check my bank accounts’ transactions from Jan 24 onward, I found that my mainland mobile phone no. could no longer receive SMS from the bank and hence I could no longer access my bank accounts now. The only way I may be able to solve the problem is probably to visit the branch in mainland China in person. However, I am not planning to return to Hong Kong and even to visit China in the coming few years. Since I am preparing for filing self assessment for tax year 2023-2024, I have the following questions: (1) Can i declare those 2 bank accounts in mainland China as unremmittable accounts and neglect the interest earned from them in tax year 2023/24? (2) Alternatively, can I extrapolate the interest incomes for Jan - Apr 2024 based on my last obtained details from April to December 2023? Thinking of putting, say 10-15% on top as my estimated annual interest incomes so that my estimates will be sufficiently above the actual interests earned. But I am not sure if this works properly? Any advices are appreciated! Goofy

Hi ,
 

1. if claiming the remittance basis then you dont need to declare them as the income has not been transferred to the UK   - https: www.gov.uk/government/publications/remittance-basis-hs264-self-assessment-helpsheet. This would then answer point 2 . Thank you .

Hi Thanks for your reply. But I am using arising basis instead of remittance basis. So can I declare those China bank accounts as unremmittable and neglect them from my interest income in next self assessment? As in my Q2. Can I extrapolate and estimate the interest income from those China bank accounts? Thanks in advance.

Hi Goofy,
If you use the 'arising basis', you declare all of your world-wide income and capital gains, regardless of whether the income or gains are transferred to the UK.
This would include your bank interest from your accounts in China.
If you use estimates, you will need to tick the box 20 on SA100 page TR8 or the onine equivalent box.
Thank you.