Can the government back out of paying my LISA bonus?

BeccaForster

Hi All, sorry if this is a question that has already come up but I couldn’t see it.

But in light of the current situation and the blow on the economy, I was wondering if the government might say they won’t pay the bonus on my LISA, as a way of getting some money back. Can they do this?

kuratowski

Government can technically do anything* but it's unlikely they would change the rules with retrospective effect.  If' they're really short of cash, more likely they would just close the accounts to new applicants and/or restrict further contributions.  But if you've already made a contribution, you'll get the bonus.

*Within the realms of the possible.

eskbanker

Only by changing the relevant legislation, and if they were that desperate for cash, there'd be many other more fruitful routes to pursue first!  LISA bonuses are paid within a few weeks of the relevant contributions anyway, so you don't have long to wait....

Alexland

kuratowski said:

If' they're really short of cash, more likely they would just close the accounts to new applicants and/or restrict further contributions.

If they did this they are most likey to chose a clean cut off at the end of a tax year. We make our LISA contributions towards the start of the tax year just incase it ever happens mid year.

When they do eventually stop the scheme for new contributions it would be nice if they removed the withdrawal penalty so we could transfer into our S&S ISAs to save duplicate ongoing platform charges.