What is a stocks and shares ISA?
An ISA is an Individual Savings Account. A stocks and shares ISA (also called an investment ISA) is an account that you can use for your investments.
You can invest tax-efficiently, meaning there’s no UK income tax or capital gains tax for you to pay.
How much can you pay into an ISA?
The ISA allowance for this tax year is £20,000. You can split your ISA allowance across any different ISA type. But you can only pay into one type of each ISA, such as a stocks and shares ISA, a cash ISA, an innovative finance ISA and a Lifetime ISA.
You must stay within the total annual limit of £20,000 across all ISAs. What you don’t use doesn’t roll over.
For amounts over £20,000 you can use our Investment Account.
How can a stocks and shares ISA benefit me?
A stocks and shares ISA is effectively a 'tax wrapper' that can be put around investments. This means you don’t pay capital gains tax on the growth of your investments and there’s no tax on any income you receive.
How to an open a stocks and shares ISA
To invest in a stocks and shares ISA, you need to choose what to invest in. Santander has a simple set of ready made investments or you can pick your own. Then, pick how much of your yearly ISA allowance you want to use. This can be a lump sum or regular amount of money each month, starting from as little as £20.
You can open a stocks and shares ISA on our Investment platform called the Investment Hub.
You can open a stocks and shares ISA if:
- you’re 18 or over,
- you’re a UK resident for tax purposes.
If you’re not feeling confident about investing yourself, we also offer two types of advice to understand if investing is right for you.
As with all investments your capital is at risk and you may get back less than you invest. Investments should be held for the medium to long term (5+ years), unless there is a fixed term that applies.
The tax treatment of your investment depends on your individual circumstances and may be subject to change in the future.
Transferring an ISA
If you already have a cash or stocks and shares ISA elsewhere you can transfer an ISA to us at any time, and it won't affect your ISA allowance. ISAs can be easier to manage when you merge them into one. With your whole ISA balance in one place, you have a one-glance view of how everything’s performing.
Its free to transfer your ISA to us but current provider may charge exit fees though, so it’s worth checking with them first - we wouldn’t want you to lose money.
Also, if you’re transferring a fixed rate cash ISA, remember that if you leave before the end of the term, you may have to pay a fee.
Request your ISA transfer using the online form in the Investment Hub. If you transfer money from your ISA, you’ll keep its tax-efficient status and won’t be taxed. But if you withdraw money from your ISA, you’ll lose its tax-efficient status.
Why Santander?
Feel in control
- Watch how your money performs with your mobile, tablet, or laptop.
- Make changes easily online or through the app.
Get investment advice from us and be confident about your investments
Learn more about investing, from how to get started to different ways of investing
If you're looking for a simple and tax-efficient way to save for the future, a stocks and shares ISA is an excellent option. You can start investing with a lump sum of £100 or £20 per month.
You can transfer your cash ISA with Santander or other providers into a stocks and shares 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 and can take up to 30 days for monies to come across.
All investment providers charge a fee for using their investment platform. We have a clear charging structure.
You can transfer in ISAs you have with other providers at any time.
It can take up to 30 days to receive your monies from when we receive your request to transfer funds.