transfer cash to partner if unmarried for ISA

RL11

Hi all,

I have just reached the limit on what I can invest in my own ISA and now want to transfer any further savings I can make this year, to my partner, so that she can put it in her ISA. I say partner because we are unmarried but have lived together for over two years. As far as I can see it's clear cut that married couples can "gift" unlimited amounts to each other but I haven't found anything regarding limits on unmarried couples. My partner doesn't even pay income tax (salary approx £3,600), so I don't see that tax would come into it but wanted to be sure. So basically I want to gift £3,600 to my unmarried partner so that she can invest it in an ISA. Do I need to declare what I am doing?

isofa

You can give what you like to your partner, to do with what they like (including saving it in an ISA in their name) as long as you don't die in the next 7 years (otherwise there are potential inheritance tax issues), there is no limit!

cos69

As isofa said, you can give whatever you like to your partner, there should not be an income tax implication - however if the worst should happen and one of you should die in an accident then you might have problems unless you make wills

FairyElephant_2

You can do this - no problem - I did it almost every year before I married my partner and never had a query on it.

As cos69 said though - do make sure yours & their wills are up to date and reflect that the monies are to come to you, or you may have problems if the worst happens.....

ATB,

FE

RL11

Thanks for the info - everyone seems pretty certain that there will be no problem doing this but I'm still not totally convinced! There is a clause in her ISA application that says it must be her money she is investing. That's fair enough, I am giving her the cash, so it is hers to invest. But it seems that there is a £100 limit on what I give to my children for them to invest in an ISA, so why do they limit that and not what I can give to someone else who isn't officially related (my unmarried partner)? Is there any tax implication for her - does she have to declare the "income" - not the interest on the ISA but the amount that I give her?

Jonbvn

richlidd wrote: »

Thanks for the info - everyone seems pretty certain that there will be no problem doing this but I'm still not totally convinced! There is a clause in her ISA application that says it must be her money she is investing. That's fair enough, I am giving her the cash, so it is hers to invest. But it seems that there is a £100 limit on what I give to my children for them to invest in an ISA, so why do they limit that and not what I can give to someone else who isn't officially related (my unmarried partner)? Is there any tax implication for her - does she have to declare the "income" - not the interest on the ISA but the amount that I give her?

Children under 16 cannot open an ISA. There is a limit with money given to your children because HMRC see it as basically still belonging to the parents.

You can give money to anybody you like (except your kids), without them having to declare it. The only issue would be with IHT, if you die within 7 years of giving.

RL11

OK. Looks like IHT is the only issue here then. I've had a quick scan around the internet on this. Am I right that a gift of up to £3,000 is exempt anyway? Also it would be classed as a regular gift (and therefore exempt), if I was able to "gift" the same/similar amount on regular basis e.g. annually?