Does an ISA last forever?
Does an ISA last forever?
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Discussion

22s

Original Poster:

6,538 posts

245 months

Sunday 15th November 2020
quotequote all
I have savings built up in an ISA wrapper (topped up year over year) for the last 3 years at the max amount (so £60k worth of ISA investments).

If I withdraw that £60k and spend it on something (a house, a car, whatever), do I still 'hold' that £60k ISA wrapper or does it disappear and I have to start again from scratch?

If I do still hold it, how does that work in practice? Say I want to invest £25k in the 2021/22 tax year, do I just invest in a fund from a provider who offers ISA accounts and declare the additional £5k above the £20k annual allowance is protected by my previous ISA wrapper?

Thanks!

bitchstewie

67,464 posts

239 months

Sunday 15th November 2020
quotequote all
I think you're over-thinking things.

If it's in an ISA wrapper it's wrapped.

Once you take it out it's unwrapped.

If you've not used your ISA allowance you can put in up to that allowance.

22s

Original Poster:

6,538 posts

245 months

Sunday 15th November 2020
quotequote all
bhstewie said:
I think you're over-thinking things.

If it's in an ISA wrapper it's wrapped.

Once you take it out it's unwrapped.

If you've not used your ISA allowance you can put in up to that allowance.
Probably am overcomplicating it!

Thanks for the response. So, in short, if you take the money out of the ISA and don't top it up again before the end of the tax year, you lose that part of the ISA wrapper you have withdrawn?

E.g. Put 20k into ISA on April 1st 2021. Withdraw 5k from ISA on July 22nd 2021. Don't top up before March 31st 2022. ISA value on April 1st 2022 = £15k.

bitchstewie

67,464 posts

239 months

Sunday 15th November 2020
quotequote all
22s said:
Probably am overcomplicating it!

Thanks for the response. So, in short, if you take the money out of the ISA and don't top it up again before the end of the tax year, you lose that part of the ISA wrapper you have withdrawn?

E.g. Put 20k into ISA on April 1st 2021. Withdraw 5k from ISA on July 22nd 2021. Don't top up before March 31st 2022. ISA value on April 1st 2022 = £15k.
Yes.

Just to overcomplicate things myself I'm sure I've read of some situations where providers will let you re-add money to an ISA but I can't remember where or in what circumstances.

But broadly speaking if you put £20K into your ISA in a single tax year and then withdraw it you can't put £20K back in in the same tax year.

trickywoo

14,145 posts

259 months

Sunday 15th November 2020
quotequote all
Just to stick my 2p in. You only get £20k a year isa allowance and this runs the same as the April to April tax year.

While your investment remains within the isa the amount you build up does not act as a carry forward allowance.

In your example of £60k if you withdraw it from the isa your allowance is only £20k per year so it will take you a minimum three years to build it back up to the original £60k.

You can move it between isa providers but you have to make sure it remains in an isa at all times. You cannot therefore withdraw it to your bank account and then put it back in an isa even if the time in your bank is measured in minutes.


bitchstewie

67,464 posts

239 months

Sunday 15th November 2020
quotequote all
The flexible ISA is a good point though as I'd seen the reference to funds and investments and assume we were talking about S&S ISAs.

If it's a cash ISA or an innovative ISA ask as it may be a flexible one.

Stay in Bed Instead

22,362 posts

186 months

Sunday 15th November 2020
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As far as I know, even with a flexible ISA, you have to put the funds back within the same tax year. I don't think you can do it several years later.

JulianPH

10,084 posts

143 months

Sunday 15th November 2020
quotequote all
Just to add some clarity (as an ISA Plan Manager), You can take out anything you want, and replace this in the same tax year.

What is not largely understood is that you can also take previous year's contributions out and repay them back in (during the same tax year) providing this is within your annual contribution limit.

As has been said, please do make sure your ISA provider allows Flexible Access, many don't.






PS I have edited this due to my stupidity! smile




Edited by JulianPH on Tuesday 24th November 19:30

Simpo Two

92,708 posts

294 months

Sunday 15th November 2020
quotequote all
JulianPH said:
Just to add some clarity (as an ISA Plan Manager), You can take out anything you want, but only replace this up to you annual contribution level.
I got an idea from somewhere, not that I need to try it, that you can clear out your ISA if you need short-term funds, then put it all back in within a short timeframe afterwards. Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

22s

Original Poster:

6,538 posts

245 months

Monday 16th November 2020
quotequote all
Thank you all for the replies! Much clearer now.

B9

534 posts

124 months

Tuesday 17th November 2020
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JulianPH said:
Just to add some clarity (as an ISA Plan Manager), You can take out anything you want, but only replace this up to you annual contribution level.

So this caps how much money you can get back in without going over your annual personal allowance.

The maximum you can take out and replace in any given tax year is therefore £20k. Anything else is considered a new contribution.

What is not largely understood is that you can also take previous year's contributions out and repay them back in during the same tax year) providing this is within your annual contribution limit.

As has been said, please do make sure your ISA provider allows Flexible Access, many don't.

If I put £10k into my 19/20 ISA and £20k into the current 2/21 ISA, can I add another £10k to last years ISA to take advantage of the allowance (as you would a pension)?

mikeiow

8,150 posts

159 months

Tuesday 17th November 2020
quotequote all
B9 said:
If I put £10k into my 19/20 ISA and £20k into the current 2/21 ISA, can I add another £10k to last years ISA to take advantage of the allowance (as you would a pension)?
No. Has to be in the current year only, AFAIK.....google suggests my understanding is correct....

Intelligent Money

526 posts

92 months

Wednesday 18th November 2020
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There seems to be a bit of confusion on this.

On the contribution front you can only contribute £20k per tax year into an ISA. It is a use it or lose it allowance so if you don't use the whole allowance in any year you cannot carry it forward.

If you hold a Flexi ISA you can withdraw as much you like and then pay it back in, as long as the withdrawal and pay back take place in the same tax year.

So in this example if you have £60k in your isa at the start of 20/21 tax year you can withdraw the £60k and pay £60k, or any part of it back in within the 20/21 tax year.

In addition to that could add an additional £20k

Hope that helps

Cheers


rfisher

5,063 posts

312 months

Friday 20th November 2020
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If you have flexi-ISAs with (for example) HL and Fidelity, can you move (for example) £100k cash between them in one tax year by taking it out of one and then paying it in to the second?

Or would you have to make a partial ISA transfer (which some providers don't do)?

Intelligent Money

526 posts

92 months

Saturday 21st November 2020
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You can transfer between ISA's without taking the funds out. So you could transfer £100k from HL to Fidelity or visa versa without talking the funds out.

If you draw the funds out of a Flexi ISA you can only put them back into the same ISA in the same tax year


leef44

5,187 posts

182 months

Saturday 21st November 2020
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I haven't been keeping up, I didn't know about flexi-access.

Are ISAs in intelligent Money flexi-access ones?

Intelligent Money

526 posts

92 months

Tuesday 24th November 2020
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Hi

Yes IM ISA's are Flexi

leef44

5,187 posts

182 months

Tuesday 24th November 2020
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Thank you, it's good to know thumbup

rfisher

5,063 posts

312 months

Tuesday 24th November 2020
quotequote all
Just to clarify - I could transfer £100k from an IM ISA to one with HL without having to draw the funds out?

chip*

1,826 posts

257 months

Tuesday 24th November 2020
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IIRC, none of the IM offerings are available from any other investment platforms. If this remain the case, I expect you will have to sell your existing IM holding for cash, then submit an ISA transfer request in your new platform. FYI, ISA transfer is dead easy, and it took literally a few mins to apply online with an eta 4 weeks to completion.