Quick isa question

catoutthebag

I haven't opened or made any isa contribution for 15/16.
If I add money to my now low rate nationwide flex ISA, Would thst be counted as making a 15/16 contribution to a new isa?
Because in a few weeks I'll be shopping for best rates and transferring my old isa to a new one
Thanks

bowlhead99

If you make ANY contribution of new money to an ISA in 2015/16, it counts as making a 15/16 contribution to an ISA and uses up a part of your £15240 allowance for contributions of new money for the 2015/16 year.

It doesn't matter if the account number that you add your new money into is one you have just opened or one you opened last year. If the money is going into it from your bank account this year, it's this year's ISA allowance being used.

When you transfer your old ISA to a new one you are not contributing any new money into an ISA from outside an ISA, and therefore that transfer action does not use a penny of your 15/16 allowance.

As an aside, you refer to your 'now low rate' nationwide flex ISA; but at 1.6% for unlimited instant access on new money it's not bad at all for an ISA; better than NS&I or Skipton who are (according to this site) probably the top instant access ISAs for people who can't access 'exclusive' products by having specific bank accounts. The NS and Skipton products don't even allow transfers in.

Of course the flex ISA is worse than Nationwide's own regular saver one which limits how much you can contribute a month, and depending how much you are depositing it might be worse than some other banks' top deals for current account holders.

catoutthebag

Thanks for clarifying

I'm not sure what the rate is - ill have to check.

Also what I mean is, if I made a contribution now - will that mean I've basically opened a new isa account for 15/16? But I can still transfer to a better rate in a few weeks or months time?

Ty

xylophone

If you make a contribution to your existing ISA now, you are using part or all of your ISA allowance for the current tax year.

Assuming this account is instant access, it would not prevent your transferring out to another provider in a few weeks.