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How can I make the most of the tax year?
By investing early in the tax year you could make sure that you are using your ISA allowance to its full advantage.
Have you maximised your ISA allowance?
Each tax year you have a brand new ISA allowance that you can use to protect your savings from the taxman.
Each tax year starts on 6th April and runs to 5th April the following year. Your annual ISA allowance for 2009/10 tax year depends on your age.
For anyone who will be 50 or over on 5th April 2010 the overall ISA limits have increased to £10,200 from 6th October 2009. For all other eligible ISA customers the current limit of £7,200 still applies but this will increase to £10,200 on 6th April 2010.
Please see the tables below for examples of how your allowance could be used.
ISA limits for anyone who will be 50 or over by 5th April 2010
| Cash ISA | Stocks and Shares ISA | Total ISA Allowance |
| £1,200 | £9,000 | £10,200 |
| £3,000 | £7,200 | £10,200 |
| £5,100 (max) | £5,100 | £10,200 |
| £0 | £10,200 (max) | £10,200 |
ISA limits for all other eligible customers
| Cash ISA | Stocks and Shares ISA | Total ISA Allowance |
| £1,200 | £6,000 | £7,200 |
| £3,000 | £4,200 | £7,200 |
| £3,600 (max) | £3,600 | £7,200 |
| £0 | £7,200 (max) | £7,200 |
Planning ahead
Planning ahead and making the most of your allowance early means you benefit from greater potential returns come tax year end. The earlier you invest the longer your money is out of the reach of the taxman and working harder for you. Once the tax year ends so does that year's tax allowance, so it's important to use each year's maximum allowance. Please remember however, as with any stock market-based investment the value of your ISA can go down as well as up and you may get back less than invested.
- If you haven’t got a stocks and shares ISA this tax year
You could be missing out, so take a closer look at our ISA Investor. Read our ISA Guide for more information or take a look at our stocks and shares ISA options.
- If you have an ISA Investor with us already
Make sure you make the most of your allowance and take a look at how you can top up.
- If you’ve got a stocks and shares ISA already but want to transfer it
We can help. Just follow the simple instructions.
Read more about the tax year and don’t forget about our range of cash ISAs too.
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