ISA question....

[prand]

I have a cash ISA which I have been paying £300 a month into. I withdrew £400 late last year to cover a shortfall elswhere.

Can I now re-deposit that £400 to ensure I have the full £3600 in the ISA, or am I just stuck with £3200 as I cannot deposit more than £3600 in total for the year?

[Elskeggso]

Once £3600 has been put in, you cannot put anymore in until the next year, regardless of how much you take out

[randomman]

As its before teh new tax year, you're ok to take it back up to the max.

Assuming the bank will let you!

[Elskeggso]

randomman said:

As its before teh new tax year, you're ok to take it back up to the max.

Assuming the bank will let you!

Never knew you could do that, have the rules changed or something, or am I thinking of something else?

[pembo]

Elskeggso said:

Once £3600 has been put in, you cannot put anymore in until the next year, regardless of how much you take out

This is correct, it's almost the end of the year anyway so you can just get a head start on next years and start with a bigger lump sum.

What kind of interest are you finding though? I've been all over the place and not doing too well, last year they were chasing us with 7-8% but this year its a struggle to get 3%

[prand]

Thought as much - I'll just have to get a headstart on next year with the cash I have now. At least the ski holiday was a good laugh (although expensive).

Not getting much on my ING ISA at all, around 1.5% by the look of things, though they usually give you double that for first year bonus. Will be looking around for a new one if there is anything better.

[pokethepope]

Assuming you've put £300 in for the last 11 months (=£3300) then you have space to put a max of £300 back before April 5th or whatever the cut off is.

[prand]

pokethepope said:

Assuming you've put £300 in for the last 11 months (=£3300) then you have space to put a max of £300 back before April 5th or whatever the cut off is.

Yes - I'll be putting in one more payment of £300 this year but I'll only have 3200 (plus interest) in the account.

[The Fly Fisher]

I agree that you can't make good any withdrawals in the same tax year.

Have you looked at stocks and share ISAs? Now may be good time to invest with equities being good value. Drip feed from cash (pound cost averaging) if you're nervous about exposure to equities.