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Nearly that time of the year

2

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  • A question, so could I for arguements sake, open up as many ISAs in a tax year as I like, as long as I only subscribe (using that years allowance) to one of them?
    Yes, so long as they can be opened without depositing any cash, not even £1.

    Obviously you'd gain no interest and therefore save no tax on all the accounts you haven't subscribed to - hence Gordon Brown wouldn't have a problem with you doing this.

    An entirely pointless exercise nonetheless :D

    JC
  • Deemy
    Deemy Posts: 3,683 Forumite
    Unless you leave the ISA open with £100 or more in it. This is fine as long as the provider allows 'partial transfers'.

    A question, so could I for arguements sake, open up as many ISAs in a tax year as I like, as long as I only subscribe (using that years allowance) to one of them?

    You can only open ONE ISA per tax year, otherwise you will void ALL ISA's opened in the current year, depending on how generous the Tax man feels towards your mistake.

    What is opening ? - Well it mean signing the application form, not rejecting in the 14 days or so grace period and pretty sure there will be a condition to deposit at least a £1 to count the account as open.

    If you don't deposit then the account is not really open.
    :confused:

    I tend to favour fixed term isa's 2 to 5 year fixes ....... yes I know they are pretty thin on the ground rate wise at the moment, but that may not be so in say 6 months time ;)
  • macca64
    macca64 Posts: 286 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Deemy, What do you think of the 5% fixed rate ISA offered by Halifax at the moment, 5% can be fixed for 1 to 5 years.

    Thinking of going for the 1 year option, but wondering on what will happen to interest rates this year, as it's either this or the A&L that pays 5.2%.
    2014 running challenge 587.4 miles / 250 miles
  • Deemy
    Deemy Posts: 3,683 Forumite
    macca64 wrote:
    Deemy, What do you think of the 5% fixed rate ISA offered by Halifax at the moment, 5% can be fixed for 1 to 5 years.

    Thinking of going for the 1 year option, but wondering on what will happen to interest rates this year, as it's either this or the A&L that pays 5.2%.

    I would go for a 2 year fixed.

    The question I have for the 5 year fixed rate ISA is this -

    Is the interest compounded every year, and then paid on maturity or is it calced every year but not paid until maturity i.e.without compounding !

    You would assume its compounded, but its dangerous to assume where banks are concerned where there is nothing in the T&C to suggest it is so !

    I do have a 5 year fixed rate 5.8% Nov 04, the annual statement in Nov 05 stated - All interest earned will be paid on maturity. I guess I will have to wait and see what happens with the Nov 06 statement, as the interest earned 'SHOULD' be greater than Nov 05. If its the same then I will have to make a fuss..

    All other fixed rates that Ive got i.e. Northern Rock, add the interest to the account so it is compounded.

    So will have to see, unless someones already held an Halifax Fixed rate ISA for more than 2 years and thus already knows the answer...
  • macca64
    macca64 Posts: 286 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    FYI - Britannia are also doing a 5% one year fixed rate cash isa.
    2014 running challenge 587.4 miles / 250 miles
  • isasmurf
    isasmurf Posts: 1,998 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Deemy wrote:
    You can only open ONE ISA per tax year, otherwise you will void ALL ISA's opened in the current year, depending on how generous the Tax man feels towards your mistake.
    No, the first £3,000 deposited into the first ISA remains valid, all other ISAs are void.
    Deemy wrote:
    What is opening ? - Well it mean signing the application form, not rejecting in the 14 days or so grace period and pretty sure there will be a condition to deposit at least a £1 to count the account as open.

    If you don't deposit then the account is not really open.
    :confused:

    This is what the ISA Manager's Guidance notes says about the definition of opening an account
    5.2 For an ISA to be opened, there must be
    • a valid application which is accepted by the ISA manager, and
    • a valid subscription (paragraphs 6.3, 6.6 – 6.12 and 6.19 – 6.34).
    ISA managers should apply this test each year if they need to determine whether an ISA or subscription to an ISA is valid (paragraph 12.26 – 12.27).

    5.3 An ISA begins from the date the subscription is made (paragraph 6.9), provided there is a valid application in force. The date the application is accepted should be recorded in the ISA manager’s records and may not be before the date of application. This means applications may be accepted before the tax year in which subscriptions can be made. But the ISA is not opened, and the investor is not bound by the declaration, until a valid subscription is made.
    (emphasis mine)
  • Deemy
    Deemy Posts: 3,683 Forumite
    isasmurf wrote:
    No, the first £3,000 deposited into the first ISA remains valid, all other ISAs are void.

    Thats good to hear :)
  • david78
    david78 Posts: 1,654 Forumite
    If you are transfering an ISA from a BS that you think might convert, consider doing a partial transfer and leaving £100 or so in the old account. (Of course you can't partial transfer an ISA being funded this year 2005-2006 so wait to April 6th).
  • alkip
    alkip Posts: 168 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee!
    I'm consolodating an old ISA, which contains approx £900 following recent withdrawals, with a new one I'm opening up on 6th April but I have another savings account with the initial BS that contains a minimal amount but I keep it open so that, as others have mentioned, should they demutualise I still get a pay out.

    Ensure that you don't close your ISA if it's the only account you have open with a mutual for this reason, do a partial transfer of funds to the better paying one but leave something in the original one.
    Live long and prosper
  • MiserlyMartin
    MiserlyMartin Posts: 2,289 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    david78 wrote:
    If you are transfering an ISA from a BS that you think might convert, consider doing a partial transfer and leaving £100 or so in the old account. (Of course you can't partial transfer an ISA being funded this year 2005-2006 so wait to April 6th).

    I've been intending to do this. But I've spoken to Coventry, Skipton and N&P Building Societies and all of them don't allow partial transfers full stop.
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