ISA allowances

jamels2

If I open an ISA today do I need to pay in the full 20k before April to make the most of it?
Or can I open one now and pay in over the next year

eskbanker

Not sure I understand the question - obviously if you want to make the most of ISAs then you'd fill them up to the annual limit every tax year! But £20K is a maximum and there's no obligation to pay in more than pennies if you choose not to (or aren't able to)....

Audaxer

You don't need to pay in the whole £20k before April if you don't want to. You can pay some of it after 5 April, but any paid into after that date would be part of next tax year's allowance.

JohnRo

ISA money allowed this year has to be paid in this year. The annual ISA allowance expires on the last day of each tax year.

What you can do is open a flexible ISA and deposit this years allowance at some point before 5th April 2020 (well before to avoid delays).

Then withdraw it again if needed after the 6th April 2020 and that would give you an effective £40K ISA allowance until 5th April 2021.

You must use a flexible ISA though.

jamels2

Ok so as soon as the date passes that's it for that tax year? I wondered if it was just a case of opening the account and being able to add funds later and still use the original tax year

oli356

jamels2 wrote: »

Ok so as soon as the date passes that's it for that tax year?

That's right.