Opened a second ISA by mistake and I don't know what to do?

Jlawson118

I keep asking similar questions on here, and I apologise if it's too many but I keep getting passed here, there and everywhere about this problem and I could do with some advice.

So I opened a Cash ISA with First Direct in 2015 and I've used it quite a bit, although I've had nothing in it for about a month or two.
Now around a month ago, I also opened one with Barclays, but then I found out that you can only contribute to one per tax year, so I went into Barclays on Thursday and closed it down.

But the lady in Barclays was really rude and condescending and kept asking me if I was sure I wanted to close it down and that I wouldn't be able to use the First Direct one until April when the new tax year starts, and then she closed it, I asked if I could still use the FD one as I didn't contribute to the Barclays one, and she told me to call them and let them know so I can avoid being done for tax fraud.

Well just those two words worried me, so I contacted First Direct, they said I've used £1600 of my allowance with them this year, but regarding the problem of opening a second one, I should contact HM Revenue & Customs.
I've just phoned them up now and the man on the phone told me that they're tax free and doesn't know why I was contacting them and that I'm hardly going to be done for tax fraud.

So what do I do now? Do I just put money into my First Direct ISA like nothing happened? Or do I have to wait until April? I don't have a clue what's going on right now

badger09

Jlawson118 wrote: »

I keep asking similar questions on here, and I apologise if it's too many but I keep getting passed here, there and everywhere about this problem and I could do with some advice.

So I opened a Cash ISA with First Direct in 2015 and I've used it quite a bit, although I've had nothing in it for about a month or two.
Now around a month ago, I also opened one with Barclays, but then I found out that you can only contribute to one per tax year, so I went into Barclays on Thursday and closed it down.

But the lady in Barclays was really rude and condescending and kept asking me if I was sure I wanted to close it down and that I wouldn't be able to use the First Direct one until April when the new tax year starts, and then she closed it, I asked if I could still use the FD one as I didn't contribute to the Barclays one, and she told me to call them and let them know so I can avoid being done for tax fraud.

Well just those two words worried me, so I contacted First Direct, they said I've used £1600 of my allowance with them this year, but regarding the problem of opening a second one, I should contact HM Revenue & Customs.
I've just phoned them up now and the man on the phone told me that they're tax free and doesn't know why I was contacting them and that I'm hardly going to be done for tax fraud.

So what do I do now? Do I just put money into my First Direct ISA like nothing happened? Or do I have to wait until April? I don't have a clue what's going on right now

Which of the replies here are you having a problem with?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5543913

Jlawson118

badger09 wrote: »

Which of the replies here are you having a problem with?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5543913

The ones that don't state what my next step is that HMRC have turned their nose up at me

badger09

Jlawson118 wrote: »

The ones that don't state what my next step is that HMRC have turned their nose up at me

I've just re read your other thread and its still not clear what you've done.

Have you paid any money into your FD ISA since 6th April 2016?

Have you paid any money into your Barclays ISA since 6th April 2016?

Jlawson118

badger09 wrote: »

I've just re read your other thread and its still not clear what you've done.

Have you paid any money into your FD ISA since 6th April 2016?

Have you paid any money into your Barclays ISA since 6th April 2016?

I'm not sure if I have paid any into my FD since that date, I know I've taken it out, and I probably have put some back in.

The Barclays one I wasn't sure about either but there's nothing on my statement so I don't think I have transferred anything since I opened it

badger09

Jlawson118 wrote: »

I'm not sure if I have paid any into my FD since that date, I know I've taken it out, and I probably have put some back in.

The Barclays one I wasn't sure about either but there's nothing on my statement so I don't think I have transferred anything since I opened it

I suggest you find out exactly what you've done, otherwise we're all wasting our time here:cool:

Also, in the context of cash ISAs, the term 'transfer' usually refers to using the new cash ISA provider's process to arrange a transfer from another provider. The result of which is different to when you simply pay money in from another of your accounts. When you use 'transfer' to mean moving money yourself, it can cause even more confusion.

TheShape

OP, I think what you really need to do is find out whether you've paid into the ISA accounts.

This is your 4TH thread on the subject of ISAs since Sep 27th and I've noticed that just today you've been posting about having multiple savings accounts and also wanting to get a Metro Bank Current Account. You've also had HSBC, LLoyd's and Halifax current accounts this year.

You've also stated that you've got a low, variable wage and only £12 in savings.

You need to get a grip on what you're doing with your money because you seem to be getting in an almighty mess.

Jlawson118

TheShape wrote: »

OP, I think what you really need to do is find out whether you've paid into the ISA accounts.

This is your 4TH thread on the subject of ISAs since Sep 27th and I've noticed that just today you've been posting about having multiple savings accounts and also wanting to get a Metro Bank Current Account. You've also had HSBC, LLoyd's and Halifax current accounts this year.

You've also stated that you've got a low, variable wage and only £12 in savings.

You need to get a grip on what you're doing with your money because you seem to be getting in an almighty mess.

Yeah this is the third ISA post because I'm worried about tax fraud just because of a simple mistake..
And I'm asking about savings accounts and if they have withdraw cards, and have multiple for different goals and reasons as well as different interest rates..I doubt I'm the only person. And the £12 in savings is due to other expenses at the moment since August I have started driving, I've insured the car so there's a good few thousand pounds worth of savings all gone into that. I have another savings account with nearly £4000 in it but I don't really count that one as it's something I don't access.
The Metro Bank account is something I've been looking into for many months because I like to travel around Europe quite a lot and would like to reduce the costs of foreign fees without paying yearly fees for the Lloyds Avios card which I was doing.

It's all well and good quoting my threads but you never really explain the reason why I'm asking them. I'm hardly in a mess with two current accounts and two credit cards. There's people out there who transfer from bank to bank all of the time just for the incentive, are they in a mess too?

TheShape

Jlawson118 wrote: »

Yeah this is the third ISA post because I'm worried about tax fraud just because of a simple mistake..
And I'm asking about savings accounts and if they have withdraw cards, and have multiple for different goals and reasons as well as different interest rates..I doubt I'm the only person. And the £12 in savings is due to other expenses at the moment since August I have started driving, I've insured the car so there's a good few thousand pounds worth of savings all gone into that. I have another savings account with nearly £4000 in it but I don't really count that one as it's something I don't access.
The Metro Bank account is something I've been looking into for many months because I like to travel around Europe quite a lot and would like to reduce the costs of foreign fees without paying yearly fees for the Lloyds Avios card which I was doing.

It's all well and good quoting my threads but you never really explain the reason why I'm asking them. I'm hardly in a mess with two current accounts and two credit cards. There's people out there who transfer from bank to bank all of the time just for the incentive, are they in a mess too?

I've got 10 current accounts and two switches ongoing so no, those people with multiple accounts are not all in a mess but it only works if you keep your eye on the ball.

All I'm suggesting is that you concentrate on your ISA problem as it seems to be worrying you. If you can find out with 100% certainty what you have or haven't paid into your ISAs the people here will be pleased to help I'm sure. Hopefully you'll get your ISAs sorted.

Jlawson118

TheShape wrote: »

I've got 10 current accounts and two switches ongoing so no, those people with multiple accounts are not all in a mess but it only works if you keep your eye on the ball.

All I'm suggesting is that you concentrate on your ISA problem as it seems to be worrying you. If you can find out with 100% certainty what you have or haven't paid into your ISAs the people here will be pleased to help I'm sure. Hopefully you'll get your ISAs sorted.

It was just the rude lady in Barclays that's worried me a little over that ISA, otherwise I'd have happily stuck with the other responses I got here, but she was really condescending, talking like I hadn't done my research beforehand and was saying the absolute opposite to the responses I got on here and looked up online too. So all this talk about 'tax fraud' and needing to do all of this, just for responses to reject that.

I do manage my finances pretty well and keep my eye on the ball. I was aiming to move over to Halifax within due course until they let me down so that's why I ended up leaving them again. It's just been a tough few months where I haven't been able to save up like I used to but I'm hoping for that to change pretty soon

badger09

Jlawson118 wrote: »

It was just the rude lady in Barclays that's worried me a little over that ISA, otherwise I'd have happily stuck with the other responses I got here, but she was really condescending, talking like I hadn't done my research beforehand and was saying the absolute opposite to the responses I got on here and looked up online too. So all this talk about 'tax fraud' and needing to do all of this, just for responses to reject that.

I do manage my finances pretty well and keep my eye on the ball. I was aiming to move over to Halifax within due course until they let me down so that's why I ended up leaving them again. It's just been a tough few months where I haven't been able to save up like I used to but I'm hoping for that to change pretty soon

Until you find out whether you have paid into 2 cash ISAs since 6th April, no one can give you any reassurance.

However, even if you have paid into 2 cash ISAs by mistake, HMRC will not treat is as tax fraud.