Lifetime ISAs guide

asc1991

I've just been told that 2017/18 bonuses may not be payed until May or June and that this means that those who wanted to use their LISA funds for a house deposit in 2018/19, but before the bonus for 2017/18 was paid, would not be able to use their bonus!?

eddiejones

asc1991 wrote: »

I've just been told that 2017/18 bonuses may not be payed until May or June and that this means that those who wanted to use their LISA funds for a house deposit in 2018/19, but before the bonus for 2017/18 was paid, would not be able to use their bonus!?

Why would they not be able to use their bonus? Presumably if they were buying in July (or after the bonus had been paid), the bonus would be in the account for them to use?

asc1991

Hi, I think you misread.

eddiejones

So is there a lack of awareness with people who deal with customers at Skipton? I am talking about the 'remaining allowance for 2017-2018 tax year'. They use the words 'the remaining allowance showing' rather than 'the remaining allowance is' in order to shift blame to a computer?...
Anyway, I've been told that mine is 1999, i.e. my initial £1 + 10 months of £200 into the HTB which I transferred over. And zero reduction for interest accrued during the 2017-2018 tax year. But the rule is that there is a reduction for that, right?

If there is a reduction, how do they know how much interest has been accrued for the tax year? Has the interest been added at the end of the tax year (i.e. 5 April), rather than January 1 (which is I guess what I have been used to previously).

Incidently, what happens if I transfer too much? I don't mind having some extra money in there temporarily, which'll get corrected but I don't want to be punished financially for it...

eddiejones

asc1991 wrote: »

Hi, I think you misread.

Ok, I'm not knowledgeable here, I was asking questions in order to improve my own understanding .

I guess you put what you meant in a rather complicated way. But what you were saying was

"If my bonus is added on June 30 2018, then I can't buy a house using the bonus until after that date"

I guess. Though don't you need to hold your LISA for 1 year and the Skipton LISA only started in June 2017 anyway (I could be wrong here), so this is a small window?

asc1991

Sorry that I sounded short - I clicked submit too early and it seems my edit didn't go through!

asc1991

New update -

Apparently if you use a Lifetime ISA whilst a bonus is accrued and has not been paid - you DO get that bonus. But you get it 1 month after the last deposit was made. If that date is too late for the property purchase it seems that you just receive that as a lump cash sum.

Alexland

asc1991 wrote: »

Apparently if you use a Lifetime ISA whilst a bonus is accrued and has not been paid - you DO get that bonus. But you get it 1 month after the last deposit was made. If that date is too late for the property purchase it seems that you just receive that as a lump cash sum.

Yes but the bonus would be added into the LISA so a withdrawal penalty would apply before 60?

asc1991

I've been told that if my conveyancer provides proof of the house purchase to my LISA provider, then the provider will pay the entire bonus (no 25% fee) to the solicitor for the customer to them receive.

ferpesin

Hi guys,

me and my girlfriends transfers went through but we have find two different situations:
- I had my Help to buy ISA in Barclays where they were paying interest to me monthly. Once my money arrive toSskipton, my remaining ISA allowance changed to £17,999.00 (the £2000 I put in my Help to buy plus £1 pound when I open my Lifetime ISA). As I spected, interest paid into my Help to buy Isa didn't count towards my allowance.

- My girlfriend had a Help to buy ISA in NationWide where they were paying interest anually. When her money arrive to skipton, her remaining ISA allowance changed to £17,952... (the £2000 she put in her Help to buy plus £1 pound when she open her Lifetime ISA plus £46...?). She has no other ISAs and the only extra payment into the Help to buy Isa was the interest added in January (£48.. not even the same they took extra).

I have found this in the Skipton LISA T&Cs:
"You can only transfer once from a Help to Buy ISA without affecting your Lifetime ISA allowance. If you transfer your Help to Buy ISA to a Lifetime ISA in the 2017/18 tax year, you can transfer the balance as at 5 April 2017, plus any interest earned, and the amount transferred won!!!8217;t count towards your 2017/18 Lifetime ISA subscription limit of £4,000.
Any payments into, or interest added to your Help to Buy ISA after 5 April 2017 which you then transfer to a Lifetime ISA will be treated as part of your annual Lifetime ISA allowance."

Is that right? I though interest paid didn't count towards your allowance regardless of the year (as it happened in my transfer). Can you guys see what criteria they applied in yours? I have tried to get in contact with Skipton and Nationwide but they keep sending me back and forth.

Kind regards