Guide to ISAs


To make sure your new ISA is open by 6 April, we’ll need your application and ID (if requested) before 28 March 2024. Applications received after this date may not be processed in time for the 2023/24 tax year.

ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) are a way of saving without paying income tax. This guide provides you with information on ISAs, the different types and how much you can save this tax year. The favourable tax treatment of ISAs may be subject to change in the future and depends on your individual circumstances.

Already have an ISA, but have a question?

How many ISAs can I have?

You can have more than one ISA, but you can only pay into one of each type of ISA in the same tax year. 

For example, one cash ISA, one stocks and shares ISA, one Innovative Finance ISA and one Lifetime ISA. Your annual allowance can be paid into any combination of these types of ISAs. However, you can't pay in more than your annual allowance of £20,000.

I am trying to do an ISA transfer into Santander, but it will not accept my 
roll number

If your roll number is not accepted on the Santander cash ISA transfer form, please remove any special characters (e.g. – or / ). You’ll then be able to submit the form, and we’ll start working on your transfer.

For example, if your roll number looks like this: 12345A-12345, remove the ‘-’, so it reads 12345A12345.

How long does transferring in a cash ISA take?

It can take up to 30 days for your money to reach us, once we receive your request to transfer in money from another provider. 

Check your Key Facts Document for more details.

Common questions

ISA stands for Individual Savings Account. The main benefit of an ISA is being able to save without paying income tax. The beneficial tax treatment of ISAs may change in the future and is dependent on individual circumstances

Non-ISA savings accounts give you interest without deducting any tax (gross). Some accounts give the option of monthly and annual interest, while others, give you only one option.

If the total interest you receive exceeds your Personal Savings Allowance, you may have to pay tax on the interest. ISA interest does not count towards your Personal Savings Allowance. 

There's a limit on the amount you can pay into ISAs each tax year. For the 2023/24 tax year, the limit is £20,000, and deposits can be made from 6 April 2023 up to and including 5 April 2024.

There are 4 types of ISAs:

  1. cash ISA
  2. stocks and shares ISA
  3. Innovative Finance ISA
  4. Lifetime ISA

You can only pay your ISA limit into one of each type of ISA in the tax year. Your ISA limit can be paid into any combination of the types of ISAs.

Santander offer cash ISAs and stocks and shares ISAs. Currently we don’t offer innovative finance ISAs or lifetime ISAs. 

A cash ISA is cash saved in an account. With cash ISAs you don't have to pay tax on the interest you receive. Just like savings accounts, there are different types of cash ISAs.

  • variable rate cash ISA pays a variable rate of interest, but you can access them at any time. The interest rate can go up or down.
  • fixed rate cash ISA pays a fixed rate of interest where you know what interest rate you'll earn and for how long. If you withdraw from your ISA before the fixed term ends, you may be charged.

stocks and shares ISA is a tax-efficient way of investing. You don't pay tax on any income or capital gains from the investment. Investing is a form of saving that can potentially provide greater returns than a savings account. Though, all investments involves risks to your capital. which varies depending on the type of investment and should be held for at least 5 years.

1. When you’re ready to upgrade your ISA, first log into your Online Banking, this will speed things up for you. If you’re not logged in, make sure you have your ISA account details and National Insurance number. You’ll need these handy when it’s time to fill in your personal details.

2. If you’re logged in, from the drop-down menu next to your ISA, click ‘Upgrade’. If you’re not logged in, visit our Savings and ISAs page to take a look at our ISAs for your upgrade options.

3. Next, click on the ISA that you are interested in and then select ‘Upgrade’.

4. Take a moment to review the important bits and when you’re ready, accept the terms and click ‘Upgrade’.

5. You’ll then be asked to review and confirm some personal details, eligibility and choose an ISA upgrade that suits your savings goal.

6. That wraps it up! Congratulations on your new ISA upgrade! 

There may be a few reasons why you can’t pay money into your ISA anymore. Please consider the following points:

You’ve reached your ISA annual allowance
There is a maximum of £20,000 you can pay into all of your ISAs in any tax year. This is known as an ‘annual allowance’. The tax year runs from 6th April in one year to 5th April the next.

You’ve paid into another ISA of the same type in the same tax year
You can only pay your annual allowance of £20,000 into one of each type of ISA in the tax year. If you take money out of your ISA, it will no longer be tax-free. If you pay it back into an ISA it will count towards your ISA annual allowance. To avoid this, please follow the transfer in process of the provider you're transferring into.

Example  1 — If you pay £10,000 into your Santander ISA, but then withdraw £5,000 from this ISA in the same tax year, your remaining ISA allowance would be £10,000 for that tax year.

Example  2 — If you pay £20,000 into your Santander ISA, but then withdraw £10,000 from this ISA in the same tax year, your remaining ISA allowance would be £0 for that tax year. This means you've reached your allowance for the tax year and can't pay any money into your ISA.

The above examples don't consider any amounts you may have paid into other ISAs in the same tax year.

ISA Transfers

You can put new money into an ISA, as well as transfer some or all of your money between ISAs or providers.

To keep your money tax-free when transferring between ISAs, you must arrange it as an ISA transfer. If you withdraw money from your ISA it will lose its tax-free status and if you pay it back into an ISA, this will count towards your annual allowance for the current tax year.

If your Child Trust Fund (CTF) is due to mature or has matured

You can transfer all or part of your maturing CTF, your matured CTF or Protected ISA to one of our cash ISAs. If your CTF is maturing, the transfer will only happen at the point of maturity, on your 18th birthday. You are allowed to transfer part of the money held in your account. Before doing that, you must tell your existing provider what you want to do with the rest of the money.

If you want to transfer your stocks and shares ISA to a cash ISA 

You can transfer your stocks and shares ISA to a cash ISA. Keep in mind, for Santander stocks and shares ISAs, the ISA manager is Santander ISA Managers Limited. This means that transfers between Santander stocks and shares ISAs and Santander cash ISAs should be treated as transfers between ISA providers.

For more information on ISA transfers, please visit here.

It can take up to 30 days for your money to reach us, once we receive your request to transfer in money from another provider. 

Check your Key Facts Document for more details.

For more information on ISA transfers, please visit here.

A roll number is the unique way of identifying your account within a building society when making an online payment. 

Providers have different ways of formatting roll numbers. Some contain special characters. For example:
Virgin Money — 12345A-12345
Nationwide BS —1234/123456789

If your roll number is not accepted on the Santander cash ISA transfer form, please remove any special characters (e.g. – or / ). You’ll then be able to submit the form, and we’ll start working on your transfer.

For example, if your roll number looks like this: 12345A-12345, remove the ‘-’, so it reads 12345A12345.

You can combine all of your Santander cash ISA balances into one cash ISA. To combine your cash ISAs, please use the Santander Cash ISA transfer form found on our ISA transfers page.

Ready to view our range of ISAs and savings?
 

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