Transferring from H2B ISA To LISA

Archiethere

Hi, I opened a stocks and shares LISA on 19-04-17 with a £1 contribution. I wish to open a cash LISA and transfer my H2B ISA in to it, as well as my other savings. I have around £4000 in my H2B ISA at the moment and £3000 in a savings account.

Ideally I’m looking at purchasing a property next may/June so I don’t want to tie my cash up beyond that ken possible.

I have a couple of questions, If I open a cash LISA will I have to wait another year before I can claim the bonus or will it go from the 19-4-17? Also if I transfer before April next year does some of my savings not count towards the 4K limit? Any help is appreciated.

eskbanker

Archiethere wrote: »

Hi, I opened a stocks and shares LISA on 19-04-17 with a £1 contribution. I wish to open a cash LISA

First things first - you can only pay new money into one LISA per tax year, so if you've already contributed to an S&S one you need to ensure you transfer it to the cash one rather than simply opening the latter and paying in.

Archiethere wrote: »

Ideally I’m looking at purchasing a property next may/June so I don’t want to tie my cash up beyond that ken possible.

I have a couple of questions, If I open a cash LISA will I have to wait another year before I can claim the bonus or will it go from the 19-4-17?

The minimum period of one year to hold a LISA is unrelated to bonus payment so you'll receive 25% of whatever is in the LISA as at the end of the tax year within about a month. Changing LISA providers doesn't reset the clock so you'll be able to use your LISA money from 19 April 2018.

Archiethere wrote: »

Also if I transfer before April next year does some of my savings not count towards the 4K limit?

Yes - HTB money paid in before the current tax year (and interest earned but not paid by then) is exempt, but everything else counts towards the £4K limit. The £4K limit resets on 6 April 2018 though, so you can pay in anything you have left from then, and you'd get the bonus the following month.