Savers and investors will be able to shield £15,000 from the taxman in the new “super ISA” from July 1 this year.
The current ISA allowance is £11,520 – half of which can be held in cash. But this summer the allowance will be upped and the cash and investment limits merged so that consumers are free to use up to the full annual allowance in either cash, investments or a mix of the two.
ISA holders can also move their funds between the cash and investment ISAS for the first time. In the past, savers have been able to transfer previous years’ cash ISA allowances into their investment ISA, but not the other way around.
“Extending the ISA allowance to one single and simple £15,000 allowance, simplifying ISA rules to allow transfers, and extending the range of qualifying investments, is a significant boost for savers and the already highly successful ISA,” said Danny Cox of stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown.
One single allowance will mean that ISA investors who currently hold cash will no longer be subject a 20% deduction for tax.
Chancellor George Osborne addressed the nation in his Budget speech, saying: “You have earned it, you have saved it, and this Government is on your side. We are backing a Britain that saves”.
He began the speech saying that it savers would be at the heart of Budget.
“People will get more of what they earn and more of what they save,” said Osborne.
Daniel Godfrey, chief executive of the Investment Management Association, said: “I want to congratulate the Chancellor on the increase in the limit and simplification of the ISA scheme.
“The New ISA will encourage savings that will build the resilience of citizens and encourage a flow of capital to industry that will drive GDP growth, create new jobs and produce the tax revenues that underpin infrastructure, education and the welfare state.”
For non-ISA savings, the Chancellor announced that from April 2015 the 10p tax band would be scrapped replaced with a 0% rate on savings for those who earn less than £15,500. Earners on an income of £15,501 or more will pay 20% tax on the income from their savings.
Peer to Peer Lending in ISAs
The new £15,000 ISA will allow peer-to-peer (P2P) lending to be included in your ISA allowance. P2P lending companies such as Zopa can offer average interest rates of 5% on minimum deposits of £2,000, considerably more than high street bank savings accounts. It works by dividing the amount you deposit between borrowers to spread the default risk. P2P lending is supervised by the Office of Fair Trading but is not a bank and is not part of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme deposit guarantee.
What About Junior ISAs?
The same restrictions between cash and investment ISAs have been scrapped for Junior ISAs, and the annual tax-free allowance has been bumped up to £4,000.
As previously announced, Child Trust Fund savings will be eligible for transfer into Junior ISA accounts from April 6 2015.