I don’t care about the issue of the interest on the savings. I care about knowing if by being named a co-owner, that the principle, or part of it, may be taxed as a gift.
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If you, the co-owner, are not the spouse of the owner, then when you withdraw money from the account for your own personal use, it may be considered a gift from the owner.
As a gift from the owner, any gift taxes would be paid by the owner of the account, not the co-owner. The withdrawal for your personal use would have to total over $12,000 in one year to have any potential tax implications for the owner.
For the person who receives a gift they do not have to pay any taxes on it, EVER. The person giving the gift can give up to $12,000 per person per year without any tax consequences. If they exceed the $12,000 limit they would have to file a gift tax return, but have a $1,000,000 lifetime exclusion to draw against for the excess. And as far as whether it’s a gift or not, that would depend on what the other person intended putting you on their account for. Legally you have as much right to the money in the account as they do, but only you and they know why they added you to the account.