NatWest ISA - transfer of old ISA

lucyandthomas

I opened the 2 yr fixed isa a few days ago, and set up a transfer of an old Coventry BS easy access isa of about 15k. This did not include any contributions from 23/24 tax year.

The money transferred very quickly to my new NatWest isa, but the app says I can only contribute another 5k this tax year. I would understand this if it had been current year contributions, but it was all money from previous years.

I have messaged NatWest. Have they made an error, or have I?

Doctor_Who

If the transferred ISA only contained previous years' subscriptions then these do not affect your current ISA allowance for this tax year, hence you should still have a £20K allowance (assuming you haven't contributed to another ISA this tax year). The only way I can see what you have described happening is if NatWest think the transfer was for this year's subscription, either if you ticked the wrong box on the transfer form or if NatWest has made a mistake in the transfer. You need to see what they say.

eskbanker

If you arranged the transfer by invoking NatWest's ISA transfer process then yes, you still have all of your current year allowance available (assuming you haven't paid into another one of course) and NatWest shouldn't be suggesting otherwise.

lucyandthomas

That's what I thought - just wondered if it was something weird about this particular ISA that I'd missed, such that it would only accept contribs for this tax year. Definitely did it through Natwest's transfer process. Will see what Natwest say.

Thanks both

parchedpeas

Same here. Interest applied at the end of my transfer, so my £16k in-year deposit is now £16k + interest. Natwest showing I only have $3.5k left availble to pay in. They're wrong, so I'm going to ignore it. If I can show my funds into ISA are all <£20k this year, then I'm golden.

Be interested to see how far you get with them.

Doctor_Who

parchedpeas said:

Same here. Interest applied at the end of my transfer, so my £16k in-year deposit is now £16k + interest. Natwest showing I only have $3.5k left availble to pay in. They're wrong, so I'm going to ignore it. If I can show my funds into ISA are all <£20k this year, then I'm golden.

Be interested to see how far you get with them.

So they are showing interest earned in an ISA as a subscription? Sounds like their ISA system has some issues!

parchedpeas

Yes, but it's not consistent.

I transferred one ISA from Santander to NatWest. £16k in Santander, contributed this tax year. Transfer into Natwest is £16400, as Santander added up the interest owed minus the penalty charge, then moved it to Natwest. This initially showed as an in-year subscription, with my 'remaining allowance' of £3600.

However, it gets worse! Because this morning I log in and they're telling me that my 'remaining allowance' is £20k.

So in short, ignore the 'remaining allowance' part and just make sure you don't pay in more thatn £20k this year, and if the taxman comes to ask, you can show receipts.

Doctor_Who

So they've given up on calculating the 'remaining allowance' and just gone for the default £20K! As you say, don't contribute more than £20K (the interest earned doesn't count) and keep your own records. I haven't done a cash ISA transfer in years (my ISAs are S&S) - did you tell NatWest you were transferring £16K (i.e. all) of this year's subscription? If so they should easily be able to calculate the 'remaining allowance'!

lucyandthomas

parchedpeas said:

Yes, but it's not consistent.

I transferred one ISA from Santander to NatWest. £16k in Santander, contributed this tax year. Transfer into Natwest is £16400, as Santander added up the interest owed minus the penalty charge, then moved it to Natwest. This initially showed as an in-year subscription, with my 'remaining allowance' of £3600.

However, it gets worse! Because this morning I log in and they're telling me that my 'remaining allowance' is £20k.

So in short, ignore the 'remaining allowance' part and just make sure you don't pay in more thatn £20k this year, and if the taxman comes to ask, you can show receipts.

They’ve changed my remaining allowance to 20k this morning too. That’s what it should be, but I think it was done automatically rather than in response to my query. Whatever, 20k is correct.

fsween19

i have two 5 year ISAs  i want to transfer into a single Natwest ISA at 5.9% . Taking into account the penalties, one ISA  transferred makes me £810  better off , the other one transferred with only 4 months to go will make me £189 worse off . Should i transfer them both and be  £621.00 better off. or is it not that simple ?.   

fabsaver

fsween19 said:

i have two 5 year ISAs  i want to transfer into a single Natwest ISA at 5.9% . Taking into account the penalties, one ISA  transferred makes me £810  better off , the other one transferred with only 4 months to go will make me £189 worse off . Should i transfer them both and be  £621.00 better off. or is it not that simple ?.   

Just transfer the one that will make you £810 better off.

Then wait until the other one matures in four months and look for the best available ISA at that time.