Stocks and shares ISAs

A stocks and shares ISA is effectively a ’tax wrapper’ that can be put around a wide range of different investment products. Any investment growth or interest earned within a Stocks and shares ISA is tax-free.

Lots of different types of investment can be held in an ISA, including:

• unit trusts
• investment trusts
• exchange-traded funds
• individual stocks and shares
• corporate and government bonds
• OEICs (Open Ended Investment Companies).

You’ll often find that stocks and shares ISAs are sold and marketed as products in their own right.

You can pay a total of £20,000 a year into an ISA in the 2023-24 tax year.

• You can divide your ISA allowance across the four different types of ISAs: cash, stocks and shares, innovative finance or lifetime. Although the maximum you can put into a lifetime ISA is £4,000 each tax year.
• You can’t put money into the same type of ISA in the same tax year, for example, two stocks and shares ISAs – you’d need to wait until the next tax year to put money into the second stocks and shares ISA.
• Your annual ISA allowance expires at the end of the tax year (5 April) and any unused allowance will be lost. It can’t be rolled over to the following year.
• You can make a lump sum investment and/or regular or ad hoc contributions throughout the tax year.
• Any increase in value of the investments in your stocks and shares ISA is free of Capital Gains Tax.
• Most income from your stocks and shares ISA is tax-free.
• You can only pay into one stocks and shares ISA in each tax year, but you can open a new ISA with a different provider each year if you want to. You don’t have to use the same provider for your cash ISA if you have one.
• It’s worth shopping around to make sure you find an ISA that suits you. Compare any charges for the ISA wrapper and the range of investments you can put inside.

ISA rules introduced in April 2015 mean that if your husband, wife or civil partner dies you can inherit their ISA. You will receive an additional ISA allowance equal to the value of the deceased’s ISA savings at the time of death.

• If you wish to switch your current or previous year’s ISA to a different provider’s ISA while simultaneously keeping future tax benefits intact, you have to arrange for a transfer rather than selling and reinvesting. If you do simply close one ISA and open another rather than transferring between the two, you lose the tax advantages.
• All ISA providers have to allow transfers out, but they don’t have to allow transfers in.
• You can transfer money from a cash ISA to a stocks and shares ISA,and vice versa (money in a stocks and shares ISA can be transferred into cash).
• If you transfer an ISA that you have paid into during the current tax year to a new provider, you must transfer the whole balance. For ISAs from previous years, you can choose how much to transfer.

• You can sell the assets held in your ISA at any time and there’s no minimum length of time you need to hold it.
• If you do cash in some or all of your ISA, you can only reinvest this money into another ISA to the extent that you have unused available ISA allowances.

• It’s important to check the charges on the underlying investment as these can vary a lot and can impact the amount of money you get back.
• By making sure of the details you can also avoid being overcharged.

If a fund manager goes bust and owes you money – and the manager is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme - you can claim compensation of up to £85,000 per person, per institution.

But you won’t get any compensation just because the value of your investments falls.

You can buy an ISA:

• directly from an ISA provider
• directly through a fund manager
• directly from discount brokers, fund supermarkets or a bank
• from a regulated financial adviser or financial planner
• through an online share account or stockbroker.

Charges might vary for the same product depending on where you buy it, so check and see where it’s cheapest.

If you’re not sure what kind of investments would suit your personal goals and needs, talk to a regulated financial adviser.

Investments that pay interest (ie government and corporate bonds), or rental income (such as some property funds) provide 100% tax-free income if held within an ISA and therefore offer tax benefits for everyone.

All individuals are eligible for a £1,000 tax-free Dividend Allowance. The dividend allowance is in addition to your personal allowance, which is the amount you can earn each tax year before you have to start paying tax. From 6 April 6 2024, it is being halved again, going down to £500.

Dividends received by pension funds or received on shares within an ISA are tax free and won’t impact your dividend allowance.

Also, any profit you make when selling investments in your stocks and shares ISA is free of Capital Gains Tax.

Any losses made on your investments in your stocks and shares ISAs can’t be used to offset capital gains on your other investments.

If you’re unhappy with the service you receive or want to make a complaint, start off by contacting your provider or your advisor.

Most fund managers and ISA managers are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority This means that if your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, you can then take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service