Skiptons LISA Help to Buy ISA Transfer Process

atreides7887

Hello All,

A quick question here. When looking at the information on the Skipton's website when preparing to transfer a HTB ISA into my LISA one of the points is:

"If you continue to pay funds into your Help to Buy ISA after 5 April 2017 these funds, and interest earned, will count towards your £4000 allowance for 2017/2018."

I wasn't aware this was the case but my assumption is that this will cover all interest payments on the HTB ISA in this financial year, rather than just interest on the amounts deposited in this financial year (which would be a pain to calculate).

Does this sound correct and have anyone read anything to the contrary?

Regards,
atreides7887

Ed-1

atreides7887 wrote: »

Hello All,

A quick question here. When looking at the information on the Skipton's website when preparing to transfer a HTB ISA into my LISA one of the points is:

"If you continue to pay funds into your Help to Buy ISA after 5 April 2017 these funds, and interest earned, will count towards your £4000 allowance for 2017/2018."

I wasn't aware this was the case but my assumption is that this will cover all interest payments on the HTB ISA in this financial year, rather than just interest on the amounts deposited in this financial year (which would be a pain to calculate).

Does this sound correct and have anyone read anything to the contrary?

Regards,
atreides7887

The official line from the Treasury and what is in law (the regulations) is that any interest accrued up to and including 5th April 2017 is exempt from the LISA allowance. Any interest accrued after 5th April 2017 counts towards it.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/398974/response/966594/attach/2/TO%20TO2017%2008177.pdf

atreides7887

Thanks that answers the question perfectly.

intalex

Whether in practice the source ISA provider will split any accrued interest between pre- and post- 5th April is another matter...

Sestren

I'll be coming up against this issue later on in the year when I transfer my HTB ISA in. I'm hoping that, once the transfer has all gone through, Skipton will be able to tell me definitively how much of my allowance is left? If not I'll probably just make sure that I leave a bit of a safety cushion, which ill be annoying but not the end of the world.

eskbanker

Personally I'd put the onus on the HTB ISA provider to answer this question as they should already be in a position to do so, given that we're three months into the next tax year. Why not contact them now and ask them to give you a figure for interest accrued but unpaid as at 5 April 2017?

In any event it shouldn't be rocket science to calculate it manually anyway with the help of an Excel spreadsheet but given its significance it would be advisable to get the official position....

atreides7887

Indeed,

I downloaded the ISA transferral form from Skiptons as part of the transfer process and it wasn't completely clear in some places so rang for confirmation. When I asked the person on the phone initially said that the interest payments didn't count....

I said I'd read differently so she went off to check and came back to confirm that they do count... Anyway once the transfer has gone through I'll ring them again and see if they can give me a definitive answer as to how much allowance I have left for the tax year.