What is an ISA?

One of the most popular accounts for UK tax payers is an Individual Savings Account (ISA). An ISA is a type of account for holding cash and investments. The biggest benefit is that you do not have to pay any UK income tax or capital gains tax on any growth for investments held in an ISA. There are a few different types of ISA but at Wealthsimple we currently only support Stocks & Shares ISAs.

You have to be a UK tax payer, at least 18 years of age and have not taken out a Stocks & Shares ISA this tax year. You can invest up to the annual limit set by the government each year (currently £20,000 for the 2020/21 tax year).

What if I have already opened an ISA this year?

You can only contribute to one Stocks and Shares ISA per tax year (the current tax year is from 6th April 2020 to 5 April 2021). If you have already funded a Stocks & Shares ISA with another institution this tax year, you can move your existing ISA over to us. You can learn how to move an ISA here! Otherwise, you will need to wait until the next tax year (April 6th 2021) to set up your Wealthsimple ISA.

Whilst you cannot contribute into multiple Stocks and Shares ISAs in the same tax year, you can contribute to a Stocks and Shares ISA, Cash ISA, Lifetime ISA and Help to Buy ISA all in the same tax year, as long as you don't go over your total ISA contribution limit of £20,000 per year across all of these accounts. For example, the Lifetime ISA (LISA) contribution limit is £4,000, so if you were to max out your LISA, you would have another £16,000 to contribute to your other types of ISAs.