Paying in to two different types of isas

00rebsta · 9 September 2019 at 1:27PM

I already have a help to buy isa with halifax, however i opened a stocks and shares isa with a different provider thinking i would be able to use my allowance for both this tax year. However, apparently this isn't the case. I hadn't paid anything in to my help to buy isa since last tax year and now i am wanting to, only to find i can't as my allowance is all wrapped up in my stocks and shares isa with the other provider. Everything online just says you can pay into one different type of isa each year but fails to mention anything about different providers.

Is there any way around this. Could i close my stocks and shares isa /or transfer it to halifax? Would this then split my allowance between the two isas.

Could i transfer my stocks and shares isa to my help to buy isa (However i checked on halifax website and it appears as if you can't do this).

If i just closed my stocks and shares isa would i then just lose all my allowance?

Im not finding any easy answers at all to these questions. Ive hardly used any of my allowance in my stocks and shares isa and don't want to put any more into it. I want to pay into my help my buy. It seems unfair when i've paid next to nothing and hardly used my allowance at all.

Thanks

Rebecca

ColdIron · 9 September 2019 at 2:22PM

There are 4 types of ISA:

cash ISAs
stocks and shares ISAs
innovative finance ISAs
Lifetime ISAs

You can put money into one of each kind of ISA each tax year.

https://www.gov.uk/individual-savings-accounts

So as long as you don't exceed your £20,000 allowance you can split it between your S&S ISA and your H2B ISA (a form of cash ISA). Different providers doesn't come into it

eskbanker · 9 September 2019 at 2:24PM

You have an overall annual ISA allowance of £20K that can be paid into no more than one ISA of each type.

The HTB ISA has a more specific monthly contribution limit of £200, but if you've "hardly used any of my allowance in my stocks and shares isa" and not paid anything into another cash ISA this tax year then there's no reason that I can think of that would prevent you from paying into your HTB ISA.

Who told you that you couldn't do this and what was the reason given?

00rebsta · 9 September 2019 at 2:52PM

I tried to put some money into my help to buy isa last night via online banking and it says I have zero allowance and therefore will not let me put any money into it, whilst my stocks and shares has a full upto 20k allowance showing.

I do not have any other isas other than those i mention. I guess I need to ring the bank and ask them whats going on. The other isa is definitely a stocks and shares isa so it shouldn't affect my help to buy one should it but I don't know how to change the allowance either to be able to split it between both.

eskbanker · 9 September 2019 at 3:00PM

00rebsta wrote: »

The other isa is definitely a stocks and shares isa so it shouldn't affect my help to buy one should it but I don't know how to change the allowance either to be able to split it between both.

You don't need to do anything to split your allowance, i.e. you don't need to nominate or change anything, you just pay into multiple ISAs concurrently.

Not sure what the issue is that's reset your HTB permitted contributions but if you contact Halifax they should be able to clarify and correct.

As an aside, it's unusual for someone saving for a first-time property purchase not to be maximising the HTB ISA 25% bonus and instead paying into a long-term investment scheme, what's your thinking behind that?

00rebsta · 9 September 2019 at 3:14PM

My help to buy isa was opened x amount of years back, i then became a student for a couple of years and didn't want to pay into my isa. Earlier this tax year as i came to the end of the course i thought id have a look into stocks and shares isa as i've always wanted to. so messed about putting a small sum into it just to see. I knew Id be able to split the allowance and still pay into my HTB when i wanted to, so thought it would be ok.

Now I want to maximise my HTB isa for some final few months before i hopefully buy a house. I suppose its not the end of the world if i can't put any more in, as i could still buy a house with what I have. Just would be nice thats all.

00rebsta · 9 September 2019 at 3:15PM

So yes silly decision I know, but I thought I wouldn't be stuck with my entire allowance in one place.

eskbanker · 9 September 2019 at 3:20PM

Exactly when did you last pay into your HTB ISA?

In your OP you said "I hadn't paid anything in to my help to buy isa since last tax year" but your more recent post suggests that it may be longer ago?

The reason I ask is that ISAs need to be reactivated if you don't make any payments in a given tax year, so if you last paid in during 2017/18 rather than 2018/19 that would explain why no further contributions are possible until you reactivate it (which is an easy and straightforward process).

00rebsta · 9 September 2019 at 3:23PM

Thanks for your help. Oh I see this might make sense now. Okay so looking back on the account, I haven't paid into it since May 2018. Does it just need reactivating?

eskbanker · 9 September 2019 at 3:26PM

The reactivation provisions only come into play if you miss an entire tax year so if you paid in during May 2018 then you haven't missed a whole one, so it must be something else - time to contact them to find out what the story is!

Paying in to two different types of isas

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