ISA limits — UK rates and thresholds

ISA limits and allowances

Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) let you save or invest free of income tax and capital gains tax, up to an annual subscription limit. There are cash ISAs, stocks and shares ISAs, Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs, each with their own rules. The tables above show the current limits.

ISAs are a simple, tax-free foundation for most savings plans. We can help you use them alongside pensions as part of a wider strategy.

What the allowance actually covers

The annual subscription limit applies across all your adult ISAs together, not to each one. Income and gains inside an ISA are free of income tax and capital gains tax, and — importantly — they do not have to be reported on a tax return at all, which is a meaningful simplification as well as a saving.

An ISA is not, however, outside your estate for inheritance tax. That is the most common misunderstanding, and it matters for anyone whose estate is near the nil-rate bands.

Flexible ISAs and the timing of the year end

Some cash ISAs are flexible, meaning money withdrawn can be replaced within the same tax year without using more allowance. Many are not, and replacing money in a non-flexible ISA uses the allowance again. It is worth knowing which you have before moving money in March.

The allowance does not carry forward. Unused, it is gone at midnight on 5 April.