Why keep an old isa anyway

kookai9

Why keep an old isa anyway .Dont all the banks just drop the rate of tiny amounts after the year ?
Do old isa's remain tax free even if I open 1 for the current year ?

j0nathon2

Once subscribed, money is tax free until either you withdraw it, you die, or the rules change (I am sure there are probably more rules than this), and you can subscribe new money each year.

Yes, banks will drop rates, but you can transfer (through forms, never withdraw) to a better rate, as long as the current account lets you transfer out and the new account allows transfers in.

calypso_rhapsody

That's right ... keep the money within an ISA 'wrapper' by transferring to one paying a decent rate ... but do not close it or withdraw unless you want to take the cash out and lose the tax shelter. IF you choose your new isa as one that will accept transfers then you can consolidate into one account ... but it's not that much hassle having multiple isas ....

Yorkie1

As others have said, you can transfer to a new provider with a better rate of interest - ask the new provider to do the transfer.

thenudeone

If you have used your allowances every year (including the predecessors, TESSAs, you could now have c. £80k in Cash ISAs, which, if you'd transferred all the balances to the best fixed rate ISAs a couple of years ago, could now be earning 4-5% interest tax-free.

That's why.

rwylie81

What if you don't want to leave provider, i.e got last years ISA with BoS, can I open another ISA with them this year, and get them to transfer?

lindiann

I was in a Santander DIRECT ISA (issue 9) which is about to become an ISA saver on 11th April, what is the difference than if I transfer to a Santander DIRECT ISA (issue 2) they are both the same rate of interest but I am concerned that if I transfer at a later date the ISA saver might not work the same and they will close my account instead of transferring?

crittertog

rwylie81 wrote: »

What if you don't want to leave provider, i.e got last years ISA with BoS, can I open another ISA with them this year, and get them to transfer?

It's basically up to the terms of the account - some allow transfers, others don't. My understanding is you can only pay "non-ISA" money into one ISA account per tax year, but you can do any number of transfers of existing ISA accounts.

p00hsticks

rwylie81 wrote: »

What if you don't want to leave provider, i.e got last years ISA with BoS, can I open another ISA with them this year, and get them to transfer?

As crittertog says, it depends on the terms of the particular ISA. If you want to stay with the same provider you may not even have to go through the rigmarole of opening a new ISA and transferring - you may simply be able to add this years allowance directly into your existing ISa account from last year.