Can I use flexible and non-flexible ISAs in this way to maximise allowance?

Jazzking

Hi, hoping someone can help verify my thinking over making the most of my allowance between my flexible (T212) and non-flexible ISAs.

I had £40k in T212 and whilst I like the flexibility, the rate is dropping.  No deposits made yet this year.
I want to lock £10k into Santander 1yr 4.25% + £50 card (effective rate 4.75%) but don't want to do a full transfer from the T212 account which is required by Santander, and also they required transfers by post.

I withdraw (not transfer) £10,000 from my T212 flexible ISA and deposited into a a new Halifax ISA, which will then be closed and transferred into the new Santander account.
Total deposits this year £10,000

My T212 account says my allowance is £30,000, but obviously it doesn't know about the £10k I've put elsewhere.

Do I still have a £20k allowance  (£30k less the £10k I've made to Halifax) if I deposit back into T212 later this year, or do I only have £10k allowance to deposit into any ISA?

If so, I might be minded to move £20k into Moneybox 5.71% (withdraw rather than transfer, due to well reported T212 delays) for 3 months and then withdraw and deposit it all back into T212 after the bonus.  Would this work, and would I still then have £20k allowance after all this or would I have breached it?

eskbanker

If you withdraw £10K from T212 and pay it into another ISA, that uses £10K of your current year allowance, but you could still pay £10K back into your T212 ISA by year end, as well as the remaining £10K of 2025/26 allowance to T212 or elsewhere.

And if you withdraw £20K from T212 and deposit elsewhere, then you've used all of your 2025/26 allowance, but could replace the £20K back into T212.

Jazzking

Thanks for the quick reply!
So anything I take out of T212 I can put back into T212 without it affecting the current year allowance?

Any deposits into any other ISAs count towards the £20k, so I just have £10k left to use now, is that right?

friolento

Withdrawing from this year’s ISA deposit does not give you additional ISA allowance for the year. 

If you deposited £10k into an ISA with another provider, you’d have used £30k, and HMRC would catch up with you once all the ISA providers have reported - around autumn 2026. It’s unclear how they would deal with it but I would not chance it myself, especially as HMRC are increasingly unforgiving when it comes to tax evasion 

friolento

If you have £10k from previous years in T212, you can do a partial transfer, e.g. to Halifax, and from there to Santander. Not all transfers from T212 do take ages but it could be a bit of a gamble to get it done before the Santander offer expires 

eskbanker

Jazzking said:

Thanks for the quick reply!
So anything I take out of T212 I can put back into T212 without it affecting the current year allowance?

Any deposits into any other ISAs count towards the £20k, so I just have £10k left to use now, is that right?

Yes, to both, assuming the second question relates to the first scenario of depositing £10K elsewhere rather than the second scenario of using £20K.

clairec666

Check if transferring your Trading 212 ISA to Santander in full means that the account is closed. If so, you won't be able to make the most of its flexible status to pay back in.
Best bet is to transfer out of Trading 212 to another ISA elsewhere, then leave in the amount that you want to transfer to Santander. Then initialise the transfer to Santander.

sammy_zammy

clairec666 said:

Check if transferring your Trading 212 ISA to Santander in full means that the account is closed. If so, you won't be able to make the most of its flexible status to pay back in.
Best bet is to transfer out of Trading 212 to another ISA elsewhere, then leave in the amount that you want to transfer to Santander. Then initialise the transfer to Santander.

As far as I can tell, my fully transferred out T212 account is still open, although I haven’t attempted to deposit.

Jazzking

clairec666 said:

Check if transferring your Trading 212 ISA to Santander in full means that the account is closed. If so, you won't be able to make the most of its flexible status to pay back in.
Best bet is to transfer out of Trading 212 to another ISA elsewhere, then leave in the amount that you want to transfer to Santander. Then initialise the transfer to Santander.

Hiya, yes, I spotted that and whilst T212 isn't table topping at the moment, I do like the flexibility so was keen to keep it open.  That's why I took the £10k out of T212 and popped it in Halifax and will then use Halifax as the account which is transferred to Santander for the offer

Thanks @eskbanker and @friolento for your help in my understanding too - I've got a plan now!

friolento

Jazzking said:

clairec666 said:

Check if transferring your Trading 212 ISA to Santander in full means that the account is closed. If so, you won't be able to make the most of its flexible status to pay back in.
Best bet is to transfer out of Trading 212 to another ISA elsewhere, then leave in the amount that you want to transfer to Santander. Then initialise the transfer to Santander.

Hiya, yes, I spotted that and whilst T212 isn't table topping at the moment, I do like the flexibility so was keen to keep it open.  That's why I took the £10k out of T212 and popped it in Halifax and will then use Halifax as the account which is transferred to Santander for the offer

Thanks @eskbanker and @friolento for your help in my understanding too - I've got a plan now!

When you say you took out £10k of T212 and popped it into Halifax - - - do you mean you withdrew it from your T212 ISA and then deposited it into a new Halifax ISA? If I understood that correctly, and that you have deposited £20k this tax year into T212 before, you now have deposited £30k this tax year. I.e. you have busted your ISA allowance. This is not what I have suggested you should do.

masonic

friolento said:

Jazzking said:

clairec666 said:

Check if transferring your Trading 212 ISA to Santander in full means that the account is closed. If so, you won't be able to make the most of its flexible status to pay back in.
Best bet is to transfer out of Trading 212 to another ISA elsewhere, then leave in the amount that you want to transfer to Santander. Then initialise the transfer to Santander.

Hiya, yes, I spotted that and whilst T212 isn't table topping at the moment, I do like the flexibility so was keen to keep it open.  That's why I took the £10k out of T212 and popped it in Halifax and will then use Halifax as the account which is transferred to Santander for the offer

Thanks @eskbanker and @friolento for your help in my understanding too - I've got a plan now!

When you say you took out £10k of T212 and popped it into Halifax - - - do you mean you withdrew it from your T212 ISA and then deposited it into a new Halifax ISA? If I understood that correctly, and that you have deposited £20k this tax year into T212 before, you now have deposited £30k this tax year. I.e. you have busted your ISA allowance. This is not what I have suggested you should do.

I don't think there is an issue here. OP originally stated no deposits made yet this year (of T212 ISA). So the £10k removed and deposited into Halifax counts as £10k used in this tax year. A further £10k can be replaced in T212 (only, and by the end of the tax year), leaving a final £10k from this year's allowance to be used anywhere.