Tax man's 'nest egg' call to thousands of teens
Thousands of young people in the North East are being urged to check whether they have a secret nest egg with the tax man.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) says young people should check to see if they have a Child Trust Fund (CTF).
It is now one year since the first account holders started turning 18 and every month, around 55,000 Child Trust Funds mature – meaning their owners can withdraw funds or transfer savings into an adult ISA.
Hundreds of thousands of accounts have been claimed so far, but many have not.
CTFs were set up for all children born between September 1, 2002, and January 2, 2011, with a live Child Benefit claim.
Parents or guardians set up these accounts with banks, building societies or investment managers – using vouchers provided by the Government.
But – if an account was not opened by the child’s parent – HMRC set one up on the child’s behalf.
Between 2002 and early 2011, about six million CTFs were opened by parents or guardians, with a further million set up by HMRC.
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, said: “It’s fantastic that so many young people have been able to access the money saved for them in Child Trust Funds.
"But we want to make sure that nobody misses out.
"If you’re unsure if you have an account or where it may be, get help from HMRC to track down your provider online.”
To find out if you have a child trust fund, go to the website https://www.gov. uk/child-trust-funds/find-achild-trust-fund