Can't a new ISA and SIPP even merely be opened without any investment subscription?

janeskips2

It is clear to me I can not open a new S&S ISA until April 6 2021 because I have already funded one in this 2020/21 tax year. Does this mean I have to wait until April 6 to be able to transfer to another provider as I also can not open a new ISA even if it is left unsubscribed at zero? I can't find clear wording on this difference between opening and funding. If I have understood correctly once I've deposited even a single pound in my only existing ISA provider my only choices in that tax year are to deposit more,up to the annual limit or to close the account and lose the tax benefit. I can only transfer to an existing account but it must have already been opened which I can't this tax year because I already made contributions this tax year.

masonic

Some providers will automatically close an unfunded ISA after a certain period of time. You can always open a new ISA for the purpose of transferring an existing ISA into it, and you can transfer an ISA at any time. There is no limit to the number of ISAs you can open, but there is a limit to the number you can contribute to in a single tax year.

grumiofoundation

janeskips2 said:

It is clear to me I can not open a new S&S ISA until April 6 2021 because I have already funded one in this 2020/21 tax year. No you can open a new S&S ISA
Does this mean I have to wait until April 6 to be able to transfer to another provider as I also can not open a new ISA even if it is left unsubscribed at zero? No you can open a new S&S ISA
I can't find clear wording on this difference between opening and funding. Difference is paying 'new money'
If I have understood correctly once I've deposited even a single pound in my only existing ISA provider my only choices in that tax year are to deposit more,up to the annual limit or to close the account and lose the tax benefit. You can though transfer to another provider
I can only transfer to an existing account but it must have already been opened which I can't this tax year because I already made contributions this tax year. Incorrect

You can open as many ISAs, of as many types, as you want in a year.

The limitation is you can only contribute new money (up to limit of £20,000) into max. one of each type of ISA (Cash inc. HTB, Lifetime, S and S and Innovative finance) each year.

So for example you can open two Stocks and Shares ISAs in a given tax year (S&S ISAs A and but you can only contribute new money into one of these accounts (S&S ISA A). You can transfer money from previous years ISA contributions into S&S ISA B as long as you don't contribute new money. 

Hope that makes sense..!

Edit - may depend on provider if they will allow you to open ISA and not fund with new money (but not due to ISA rules).

Not sure what your question on SIPP as mentioned in title was?

janeskips2

Thank you. It is confusing because I can't find any official document of the rules on HMRC and many of the articles and guides on the internet use phrases implying or outright saying you can not even open with a zero balance. Is there an link to HMRC or other official gov site that shows this? I believe you I just want to read for myself.
So based on the replies if I were to say open a new ISA with ii today I could later this month transfer and close my existing ISA with AJ Bell Youinvest to which I have already contributed the 20,000 limit this year. Of course I wouldn't be allowed to put new money in ii after the transfer until April but I don't need to wait at all. If I open the new ISA with ii but then don't transfer for a few months and since I can't invest new money they may close it after some time, this appears to be the only concern.

masonic

This is an invaluable site for checking the ISA rules: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/isa-managers-guidance

You won't find an explicit statement that you can open an ISA with zero balance, but you will find the quote: "Where an investor has made an application to subscribe to an account, other than to a lifetime ISA, but no subscription is made in the tax year to which the application relates, the application will remain valid for a subscription in the next tax year" in the "Information you need from investors when they apply for an ISA" section.

You may transfer your AJ Bell ISA now or later, if you would prefer to wait a few months before transferring, then you could check with ii how long they would keep the empty ISA open for you.

AnotherJoe

Since the rule is about how much money you can add, and to how many ISAs, there doesn't need to be a rule about opening but not putting money in.

Otherwise in general there would need to be all sorts of rules saying that A,B,C,D, E, F etc etc are legal rather than X & Y are not and therefore you can not only do A-W but also a, å and anything else that isn't forbidden.