Individual Savings Account ISA

Did you know?

• You can invest up to £11,520 in an ISA for the 2013-14 tax year.

What is it?

An ISA (Individual Savings Account) is a tax efficient savings and investment wrapper into which eligible individuals can currently invest up to £11,520. ISA’s were introduced by the government in April 1999, effectively replacing PEP’s and TESSA’s to encourage long term savings. Investment in to ISA’s can be made by a lump sum or on a regular premium basis.

Who is it for?

ISA’s are available to investors who are aged 18 or over (16 or over in the case of cash ISA’s).

The investor must be resident and ordinarily resident in the UK for tax purposes. As ISA’s are individual accounts they can only be held in single names, which allows a couple to each invest up to £11,520 each tax year. The full amount can be invested in Stocks and Shares or up to £5,760 can be invested in a Cash ISA.

Citywire have produced an excellent video detailing what an ISA is and how it works, please bear in mind it uses 2010-2011 allowances but the fundamentals are still the same - Watch the video