Can I give my wife £20,000 tax-free to put into a Cash ISA?

Face

Hi,

I have just over £80K that I want to put in to Cash ISAs.

My "plan" was to open 2 Cash ISAs (one in my name and one in my wife's name) in either Feb or March 2023 this year and then open another 2 Cash ISAs (again, one in my name and one in my wife's name) in May 2023.

What I would like to know is can I give my wife the £20K each time to put in to her Cash ISAs without any tax implications?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much.

Jeremy535897

There are no tax implications of making a cash gift to your wife.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Face said:

Hi,

I have just over £80K that I want to put in to Cash ISAs.

My "plan" was to open 2 Cash ISAs (one in my name and one in my wife's name) in either Feb or March 2023 this year and then open another 2 Cash ISAs (again, one in my name and one in my wife's name) in May 2023.

What I would like to know is can I give my wife the £20K each time to put in to her Cash ISAs without any tax implications?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much.

There is a slim chance chance there could be IHT implications if you did in the next 7 years.

But income tax wise you can give her whatever you want.

Just remember though it's then her money.  If she spends it on a holiday, new car or a flutter on the Grand National that's her choice.

sheslookinhot

You don't need to open another 2 Cash ISA’s in 23/24 financial year, just deposit into existing ISA’s.

tightauldgit

Yes but it's then her money and you can't legally demand it back again so if she spends it all then it's tough.  

SiliconChip

sheslookinhot said:

You don't need to open another 2 Cash ISA’s in 23/24 financial year, just deposit into existing ISA’s.

Depends on the ISA, the fixed rate one that I've just opened with Coventry BS (to transfer in an existing ISA with another provider) has a very limited time for paying in, by May it won't be possible any more. And of course by May there may be better offers available than there are now.

Face

Thank you very much, everybody.

I take it that it doesn't matter how I give it her?

Can I just bank transfer it from my bank account to her Cash ISA?

Or am I better to transfer it to her bank account and then have her transfer it from her bank account to her ISA?

I suspect that it doesn't make any difference but don;t want to fall at the last hurdle

One thing that I've never understood about all this tax malarkey is that I can give my wife as much as I want even though she is no blood or genetic relation to me but I cannot do the same with my son who is a direct blood / genetic relation to me.

Thanks again, everyone!

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Face said:

Thank you very much, everybody.

I take it that it doesn't matter how I give it her?

Can I just bank transfer it from my bank account to her Cash ISA?

Or am I better to transfer it to her bank account and then have her transfer it from her bank account to her ISA?

I suspect that it doesn't make any difference but don;t want to fall at the last hurdle

One thing that I've never understood about all this tax malarkey is that I can give my wife as much as I want even though she is no blood or genetic relation to me but I cannot do the same with my son who is a direct blood / genetic relation to me.

Thanks again, everyone!

You can give your son whatever you want, why do you think otherwise?

If he's a minor there could be tax consequences relating to any interest he earns on the money you give him.

And IHT may be a factor when you die.

Keep_pedalling

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

Face said:

Hi,

I have just over £80K that I want to put in to Cash ISAs.

My "plan" was to open 2 Cash ISAs (one in my name and one in my wife's name) in either Feb or March 2023 this year and then open another 2 Cash ISAs (again, one in my name and one in my wife's name) in May 2023.

What I would like to know is can I give my wife the £20K each time to put in to her Cash ISAs without any tax implications?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much.

There is a slim chance chance there could be IHT implications if you did (sic) in the next 7 years.

I can’t see why there would be any risk whatsoever considering spousal exemption.

Face

I had just seen on the GovUK website that it was limited to £3K tax free gift allowance?

Although he is doing OK for himself and doesn't need me to help at the moment

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Face said:

I had just seen on the GovUK website that it was limited to £3K tax free gift allowance?

Although he is doing OK for himself and doesn't need me to help at the moment

I think you're getting confused by what you can give away, whatever you want, and what you can give without there being a potential IHT implication.