Convert from Help to Buy ISA to Cash Life ISA (LISA)

Joystonwmj

Hi All,
I hope you are well and safe

I opened a Help to Buy ISA in 2019 and for example let us assume I have more than £4000 saved in that account. I want to now transfer this amount to a cash LISA with Money Box which I just opened in January 2021. 

1. Can I transfer the £4000 (knowing the limit for LISA in one financial year) in the LISA before April 2021?

2. When I do the transfer what happens to my Help to Buy ISA account as it would still have some money remaining? Can I then transfer all of it when the new financial year begins in April 2021?

Thank you in advance,
Joy

grumiofoundation

1. Yes (in theory). The only issue you might face is if there are any delays with the ISA transfer process. If you aren't affected by the £20,000 limit across all ISA types it might be easier to just withdraw from the help to buy ISA and then pay into LISA.

2. Will stay open and you can continue to contribute if you wish. Yes can transfer another £4000 when new tax year starts. 

Joystonwmj

grumiofoundation said:

1. Yes (in theory). The only issue you might face is if there are any delays with the ISA transfer process. If you aren't affected by the £20,000 limit across all ISA types it might be easier to just withdraw from the help to buy ISA and then pay into LISA.

2. Will stay open and you can continue to contribute if you wish. Yes can transfer another £4000 when new tax year starts. 

Thank you so much for taking your time to explain. I do have a few more questions to ask.
1. You mentioned about withdrawing the money.
What if I just transferred to LISA using the services from the Moneybox?
Will the interest be carried to my LISA?
Will it affect my Help to Buy ISA interest rates added to the account of any remaining money left in it? 

grumiofoundation

Joystonwmj said:

grumiofoundation said:

1. Yes (in theory). The only issue you might face is if there are any delays with the ISA transfer process. If you aren't affected by the £20,000 limit across all ISA types it might be easier to just withdraw from the help to buy ISA and then pay into LISA.

2. Will stay open and you can continue to contribute if you wish. Yes can transfer another £4000 when new tax year starts. 

Thank you so much for taking your time to explain. I do have a few more questions to ask.
1. You mentioned about withdrawing the money.
What if I just transferred to LISA using the services from the Moneybox?
Will the interest be carried to my LISA?
Will it affect my Help to Buy ISA interest rates added to the account of any remaining money left in it? 

You can transfer to moneybox LISA using ISA transfer service I was only suggesting withdrawing and redepositing as an option since you only have ~6 weeks until new tax year and if there is some kind of delay to ISA transfer* I'm not sure if this could cause an issue (i.e. if transfer was delayed past April 5th not sure if this means this would then count towards next years LISA allowance?).
*For a cash ISA transfer this should not take longer in 15 working days. Other transfers 30 days.
https://www.gov.uk/individual-savings-accounts/transferring-your-isa

So if you are not concerned with ISA limit thought might be simpler and I couldn't see any problem (maybe there is one I've not thought of?) to just withdraw and deposit manually.

Joystonwmj

Thank you for explaining that and taking your time to do the research. I really appreciate your help