Two stocks and shares ISA's by mistake, any experiences

jimmyup

Hi all, 

Looking for any past experience of the same who can advise me on how they resolved it.

Due to my misunderstanding, I deposited my full £20k allowance in two parts, into two pre-existing Stocks and Shares ISAs. The money cleared in the first, and was invested, but I realised the mistake before the money cleared in the second. I called the provider who said to call HMRC, who said I should write, who didn't answer after a month, so I called again, and can't get through, so I asked them on twitter and they said I should wait for after the end of the tax year to hear from them... Oh and I should check with the provider (to complete the circle). 

I really don't want to leave a considerable amount of money in a low interest brokerage cash account for a year. Is there any way anyone has experience of to resolve this more quickly?

Many thanks. 

J

eskbanker

Can you transfer one ISA to the other, either entirely or just this year's contributions?

masonic

Could you name the two providers? Or do you know if either of them offer flexible withdrawals?

jimmyup

Its AJ Bell and Vanguard. I can transfer from the second one.

masonic

Vanguard offers ISA flexibility, so if that was the second ISA you added money to, withdrawing it would reduce the invalid subscriptions to zero, though a formal ISA transfer would completely remove any possibility of the error being flagged.

jimmyup

Thanks Masonic. So transferring out is best. I'll wait a bit to see if HMRC do reply to my letter, then proceed.

drphila

@masonic solution seems the best.

But, in any case, I have seen a copy of a written response by HMRC to this very issue. Their response was that they will look at it at the end of the year, as you were told, but they also said that they were unlikely to take any action and you would be allowed to keep both.