Like love, stealth taxation is all around us. Those oh-so-reluctantly given public-sector pay rises will be in part repaid by increased tax, with allowances frozen and many more being pushed into the 40% (or for some, just the 20%) tax band. With interest rates at 1%, you wouldn\u2019t have been likely to pay tax on your interest unless you had \u00a3100k or more in a bank deposit account. At 4 or 5%, that comes down to as little as \u00a320k, \u00a310k if you\u2019re a high rate taxpayer (when you\u2019re only allowed \u00a3500 of interest tax-free) after which those rates aren\u2019t in reality quite as good as they sound. Which makes Premium Bonds and their tax-free prizes seem a still-better bet. As previously trailed, an awful lot of those who\u2019ll have to pay some tax won\u2019t have a clue that they should and almost certainly won\u2019t be completing a tax return at the moment. Which will be a dilemma, not just for them, but for the taxman, too.<\/p>\n