Can my fiancé pay into my ISA?

callum2010x

My fiancé and I are saving for our wedding. I have opened an ISA to save for this.

He has been sending half of his pay into the ISA the last 3-4 months to contribute to the saving. 

I’ve suddenly realised I’m not sure if this is allowed?! He doesn’t have another cash ISA but does have a help to buy ISA. (And has only out around 8k in both this tax year so far, so well within the 20k allowed each year).

Have we done anything wrong? Is he allowed to pay money into my ISA?

Voyager2002

You opened the ISA, so presumably it is in your name. He has been putting money into your ISA, effectively he has been giving you money. Perfectly legal. 

MeteredOut

Some ISA providers only allow deposits from an account in the same name as the ISA account holder, but it seems some allow anyone to transfer. You each have a £20K allowance, and by transferring into your ISA, that's using up some of your allowance.

As stated above, your fiance is effectively giving you the money - it is now legally yours.

MyRealNameToo

callum2010x said:

My fiancé and I are saving for our wedding. I have opened an ISA to save for this.

He has been sending half of his pay into the ISA the last 3-4 months to contribute to the saving. 

I’ve suddenly realised I’m not sure if this is allowed?! He doesn’t have another cash ISA but does have a help to buy ISA. (And has only out around 8k in both this tax year so far, so well within the 20k allowed each year).

Have we done anything wrong? Is he allowed to pay money into my ISA?

Anyone is free to gift to anyone, excluding employer/employee relationship, the only issue comes if the giver dies within 7 years of the gift for those not married. 

It makes no difference if it's a gift to him that he puts into his ISA or if you put in there directly. 

Ayr_Rage

Not according to Interactive Investor, it must come from your own account.

No, someone else can't pay into your ISA - at least not directly. 

The ISA rules, set by HMRC, say that contributions to an ISA must be made with your own cash. You can add cash to your own ISA using a debit card or transfer from a bank account in your name - or a joint account you own.

This means that someone else can’t directly add cash to your ISA.

The exception to this rule is a Junior ISA which can accept cash from anyone. Provided there is enough Junior ISA allowance remaining.

clairec666

Ayr_Rage said:

Not according to Interactive Investor, it must come from your own account.

No, someone else can't pay into your ISA - at least not directly. 

The ISA rules, set by HMRC, say that contributions to an ISA must be made with your own cash. You can add cash to your own ISA using a debit card or transfer from a bank account in your name - or a joint account you own.

This means that someone else can’t directly add cash to your ISA.

The exception to this rule is a Junior ISA which can accept cash from anyone. Provided there is enough Junior ISA allowance remaining.

Haven't made use of this, but Tembo's LISA has an option to "share your LISA gift link" which allows other people to contribute to your LISA

Ayr_Rage

MyRealNameToo said:

callum2010x said:

My fiancé and I are saving for our wedding. I have opened an ISA to save for this.

He has been sending half of his pay into the ISA the last 3-4 months to contribute to the saving. 

I’ve suddenly realised I’m not sure if this is allowed?! He doesn’t have another cash ISA but does have a help to buy ISA. (And has only out around 8k in both this tax year so far, so well within the 20k allowed each year).

Have we done anything wrong? Is he allowed to pay money into my ISA?

Anyone is free to gift to anyone, excluding employer/employee relationship, the only issue comes if the giver dies within 7 years of the gift for those not married. 

It makes no difference if it's a gift to him that he puts into his ISA or if you put in there directly. 

You cannot DIRECTLY fund a normal ISA that is another person's name which is what the OP's partner is doing !

eskbanker

Cash subscriptions from third parties can be accepted without question unless the ISA manager holds information that shows that the cash does not belong to the investor.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/manage-isa-subscriptions-for-your-investors#cash-subscriptions

badger09

callum2010x said:

My fiancé and I are saving for our wedding. I have opened an ISA to save for this.

He has been sending half of his pay into the ISA the last 3-4 months to contribute to the saving. 

I’ve suddenly realised I’m not sure if this is allowed?! He doesn’t have another cash ISA but does have a help to buy ISA. (And has only out around 8k in both this tax year so far, so well within the 20k allowed each year).

Have we done anything wrong? Is he allowed to pay money into my ISA?

Why doesn’t your fiancé open his own ISA and pay into that instead? 

Albermarle

badger09 said:

callum2010x said:

My fiancé and I are saving for our wedding. I have opened an ISA to save for this.

He has been sending half of his pay into the ISA the last 3-4 months to contribute to the saving. 

I’ve suddenly realised I’m not sure if this is allowed?! He doesn’t have another cash ISA but does have a help to buy ISA. (And has only out around 8k in both this tax year so far, so well within the 20k allowed each year).

Have we done anything wrong? Is he allowed to pay money into my ISA?

Why doesn’t your fiancé open his own ISA and pay into that instead? 

Good question !