Lifetime ISAs guide

an1179

eskbanker said:

It'll be either late May or early June - as explained at https://www.skipton.co.uk/savings/isas/lifetime-isa, the bonus claim periods run from 6th of one month to 5th of the next.  Skipton then have 14 days from May 5th to make the claim and the government another 14 days to pay it, so it would be added to the LISA by June 2nd.

Thanks for confirming that @eskbanker

chr15macca

Can I pay £4000 in now for 25% gov top up at 6th April?

eskbanker

chr15macca said:

Can I pay £4000 in now for 25% gov top up at 6th April?

If you pay in £4K by 5th March then the 25% bonus will be added by about 2nd/3rd April, or if you miss this bonus claim period and pay in during the one ending on 5th April then the bonus would arrive by early May.  The change in tax year is only significant for when contributions can be made, i.e. the fact that deposits in late 2019/20 will receive a bonus early in 2020/21 doesn't affect the contribution limit for 2020/21, if that's what was behind your reference to 6th April....

P1Fanatic

chr15macca said:

Can I pay £4000 in now for 25% gov top up at 6th April?

Assuming you haven't paid in anything since April 6th 2019 then yes. And can pay in another £4k on April 6th.

chr15macca

Thank you both.
 Yes I was just checking to see that it wasn’t too late to pay in for financial year 2019/2020 to receive the 25% top up

aphty

Hi  - I have a specific Moneybox LISA query  - I have already set up the Moneybox LISA and transferred in the balance from Skipton which was my previous provider. I now want to add my annual allowed 4k contribution for this tax year to the  existing balance. I can see this is done by a direct debit system (which is set up) rather than an electronic bank transfer (there are no account details for Moneybox), but I can't see how to do that using the app. Please can anyone explain? Cheers

Alexland

If you can't find the button to setup a contribution via DD you could have an online chat with them using the app during working hours or send them an email asking?

EAB2

Sorry, I'm sure this question has been asked but I can't work out how to search the new style forum on my phone. 

My son put £1 in an HTB ISA before the deadline, but is nowhere near buying a house so I'm going to give him money to open a LISA. 
How do they know which account to pay the bonus into, or do they pay it into both and do some kind of check when you use the cash?

Alexland

Your son would tell your solicitor which funding source they choose to use when making a qualifying property purchase.

LISA bonuses are added into the account approx 1-2 months after each contribution so the solicitor is doing a penalty-free withdrawal from the LISA account to support the purchase.

The HTB ISA bonus is claimed by the solicitor using the final account closure statement.

You son can only use one account  bonus towards the purchase. Most people with both accounts would choose the LISA to avoid that money being tied up with a withdrawal penalty until age 60. As such they prioritise the LISA contributions to maximise the bonus and use the HTB ISA as a high interest side-account.

However if they have enough cashflow and want to maximise the government bonuses across their lifetime they could buy a property using the HTB ISA (although it has a lower property price limit outside London) and receive LISA bonuses in the same tax years towards retirement.

EAB2

Thanks Alex. 
So assuming he uses the LISA for house purchase, is there any point having an HTB? The bonuses would be deducted on closure/withdrawal?