Opened 2 (stocks & shares) ISA account in the same year but not exceeded allowance

wannadie

Hello,
In July, I opened a stocks and shares ISA with H&L. I did not like the H&L platform so withdrew my funds and opened an stocks and shares ISA account with Trading 212.
I have not exceeded the limit but have been told that I should not have opened a second account,
What should I do?

Alexland

Assuming you contributed money into the T212 account then yes you have broken the rule of only contributing into one of each type of ISA in the same tax year. You could let T212 know but they will probably tell you to wait until HMRC contact you after the end of the tax year.

masonic

You should have transferred the HL S&S ISA to T212. It might be worth enquiring with T212 if they would allow you to initiate a transfer now given it would solve the issue (if completed before the end of the tax year), but should have been done prior to adding new money to T212. Or you could just try it - worst case they reject the transfer and you are in the same position as now.

Alexland

masonic said:

It might be worth enquiring with T212 if they would allow you to initiate a transfer now given it would solve the issue

Yes if the HL ISA is still open - unsure they would agree to transfer a closed account.

masonic

Alexland said:

masonic said:

It might be worth enquiring with T212 if they would allow you to initiate a transfer now given it would solve the issue

Yes if the HL ISA is still open - unsure they would agree to transfer a closed account.

I believe the ISA rules require an ISA manager to reinstate a closed ISA to prevent the individual losing the ability to subscribe to an ISA of a particular type, if so HL would not be at liberty to refuse.

Edit: checking the old ISA Guidance Notes document I have, this is a 'may' not a 'must', so HL could refuse to reopen it if it is closed. It would therefore be best to approach this as "I want to reopen the ISA so I can resume using it" rather than "I want to reopen the ISA so I can transfer it elsewhere".

Alexland

masonic said:
It would therefore be best to approach this as "I want to reopen the ISA so I can resume using it" rather than "I want to reopen the ISA so I can transfer it elsewhere".

Oh what a tangled web we weave..

masonic

Alexland said:

masonic said:
It would therefore be best to approach this as "I want to reopen the ISA so I can resume using it" rather than "I want to reopen the ISA so I can transfer it elsewhere".

Oh what a tangled web we weave..

It's a fair point, and the OP could resolve to do nothing. What is at risk is the ISA status of the investments bought within the T212 ISA. The outcome is uncertain, as is the timescale in which HMRC may act, so the investments are potentially unsheltered for the longest time if the ISA is ultimately voided. However, there is a chance HMRC will decide not to take any action.

Another course of action is to ask T212 to close the ISA and transfer the investments to a trading account pro-actively, enabling them to be Bed & ISA'ed into a valid ISA at the start of the next tax year. This may lead to smaller capital gains and fewer dividends paid outside of the ISA, but will reduce the available annual allowance in the next tax year. It also pre-empts action that may not have been taken by HMRC.

If the HL S&S ISA is now closed (we don't yet know whether it is or not), the OP could open an ISA of another type (e.g. cash ISA) to use the rest of their allowance in readiness to transfer to T212 as a valid S&S ISA in the next tax year, although it could get messy if the existing one is not closed in the mean time.

So there are various alternative options, each of which carries complications and uncertainty.