The Treasury originally consulted on the policy design of the Help to Save scheme between 26 May and 21 July 2016. HMRC’s current consultation is seeking feedback on the draft regulations for the creation of the Help to Save accounts.

The government intends to launch the scheme no later than April 2018, with accounts available for application for five years.

Following consultation it was agreed that the NS&I will act as the single account provider for the scheme.

The Help to Save scheme is not expected to result in any costs to the Exchequer until 2019 where it will result in a cost of £25m, increasing to £85m in 2020.

The scheme is intended for working families on low incomes to help them build up their savings. It will be open to around four million individuals who receive Universal Credit with minimum weekly household earnings equivalent to 16 hours at the National Living Wage, or those in receipt of Working Tax Credit.

The scheme will provide a 50% government bonus on up to £50 of monthly savings into a Help to Save account. This bonus will be paid after two years with an option to save for a further two years, meaning that people can save up to £2,400 and benefit from government bonuses worth up to £1,200.

The funds will be available to be used in any way.

The consultation closes at 11:45pm on 27 October 2017.

Any comments should be sent to helptosave.consultation@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk

Technical consultation on draft secondary legislation relating to Help-to-Save accounts is available here. 

Report by Amy Austin