Question re ISA's

HoolyNI

Total greenhorn here....my wife has had a bit of a windfall and we want to open seperate isa's to take advantage of both our tax-free allowances, is this possible? Or is an isa allowance restricted by address?

scope

An ISA is individual, so you can open 1 each..

jimjames

scope wrote: »

An ISA is individual, so you can open 1 each..

And then again in April so within the next 6 months you can potentially shelter over £40k from tax

bugbyte_2

2 isas x £5600 (ish) = £11200 this year plus 2 x 5700 (ish) = £11400 after April. Grand total for 4 ISA's = £22600, not £40K. Have a look at the best available list to see which ones suit you.

westy22

I think jimjames meant both Cash and S&S ISAs used together over the next 6 months

bugbyte_2

fair point

jimjames

westy22 wrote: »

I think jimjames meant both Cash and S&S ISAs used together over the next 6 months

Yes, thats right. The OP said they wanted to take advantage of their tax free allowances so £40k is the amount that they can jointly put into ISAs over 2 tax years.

Daniel_Elkington

If you are doing this then you may want to seek advice, It will cost a bit so shop around your IFA's and make sure they are independent and not restricted.

titian1005

I need to withdraw cash from my Halifax ISA on Christmas Eve , will it be easier to close the account as I need to take the majority of the money out.
Thanks for any help you can give.

dtsazza

titian1005 wrote: »

I need to withdraw cash from my Halifax ISA on Christmas Eve , will it be easier to close the account as I need to take the majority of the money out.
Thanks for any help you can give.

It would have been better to start a new topic, rather than replying with an unrelated question on an existing one.

But to answer your question, it depends entirely on what the terms and conditions are on the specific account you have. Some cash ISAs operate like "normal" savings accounts, and allow you to transfer money in and out at will (subject to the normal ISA allowances on total transfers in). Some require you to give notice. Some (especially fixed term accounts) require you to close the account altogether if you wish to access the money early. And I've even seen a few accounts that completely disallowed early cashing out, though those tend not to be "plain" cash accounts.

If you're unsure of what account you have, you're best off ringing Halifax and asking them about withdrawing money - they'll be in the best place to assist you.

As a general rule, there's no particular reason why you'd want to close the account instead of just withdrawing, if withdrawing is an option.