ISA accounts in the UK: types, £20,000 limit and rules in 2026/27

In short

• An ISA (Individual Savings Account) lets you save without paying tax on interest on cash in an ISA, or on income or capital gains from investments in an ISA (as of November 2026, GOV.UK).
• In the 2026/27 tax year you can pay a maximum of £20,000 in total into ISAs, in one account or split across several (GOV.UK). The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April.
• There are 4 types of ISA: cash ISA, stocks and shares ISA, innovative finance ISA and Lifetime ISA. Children can have a Junior ISA.
• The cash ISA limit stays at £20,000 from April 2027 for all savers over 18 (Budget 2026, as of November 2026).
• You can open an ISA from age 18 as a UK resident (there are exceptions). You cannot hold an ISA with someone else (GOV.UK).
• You can take money out of an ISA at any time without losing the tax benefits. Check your account's terms and withdrawal charges. Separate withdrawal rules apply to a Lifetime ISA. To change provider, use an ISA transfer form (GOV.UK).

What is an ISA and how much can you pay in?

An ISA is an account where you save tax-free (as of November 2026). If you complete a tax return, you do not declare ISA interest, income or gains on it. We cover tax returns in our guide to income tax in the UK, tax codes, PAYE and Self Assessment.

Every tax year you can pay up to £20,000 into one account or split the allowance across several accounts. Your ISAs do not close when the tax year ends.

Limits according to GOV.UK, Annex A to Budget 2026 and the pages on the Lifetime ISA and Junior ISA (as of November 2026):

What types of ISA are there: cash, stocks and shares and others?

According to GOV.UK (as of November 2026) there are 4 types of ISA. Which one suits you depends on your situation, so we only describe what each type can include.

• Cash ISA: savings in bank and building society accounts, and some National Savings and Investments products.
• Stocks and shares ISA: shares in companies, unit trusts and investment funds, corporate bonds, government bonds and long-term asset funds. You cannot transfer shares you already own outside an ISA into an ISA unless they come from an employee share scheme.
• Innovative finance ISA: among other things, peer-to-peer loans (loans given to other people or businesses without using a bank) and "crowdfunding debentures", meaning investing in a business by buying its debt.

Lifetime ISA

A Lifetime ISA is for buying your first home or saving for later life (as of November 2026). We cover its conditions in our guide to banking, credit and credit history in the UK. We cover buying a home in our guide to buying a home in the UK step by step and stamp duty.

Junior ISA

The Junior ISA is a long-term, tax-free savings account for children, with a limit of £9,000 in 2026/27 (as of November 2026). Parents or guardians with parental responsibility open it, but the money belongs to the child. We cover finding a child's savings in our guide to Child Trust Funds and Junior ISAs.

Who can open an ISA and how?

According to GOV.UK (as of November 2026) you can open an ISA from age 18, and a Lifetime ISA only if you are under 40. You must be a UK resident. The exception is members of the armed forces and Crown servants posted overseas, and their spouses or civil partners. If you are unsure of your residence status, you can work it out using the "UK residence and tax" rules.

1. Choose a type of ISA.
2. Choose a provider: ISAs are offered by banks, building societies, credit unions, friendly societies, stock brokers, peer-to-peer lending services, crowdfunding companies and other financial institutions.
3. Have your National Insurance number ready (if you do not know it, you can find it online).

You cannot hold an ISA with someone else. You can apply for and manage an ISA on behalf of someone who lacks the mental capacity to do so if you hold lasting power of attorney (LPA) for them or you are their financial affairs deputy.

How do you withdraw money from an ISA and switch provider?

You can take your money out of an ISA at any time without losing the tax benefits (as of November 2026, GOV.UK). Check your account's terms and withdrawal charges. Separate withdrawal rules apply to a Lifetime ISA. With a "flexible" ISA you can take out cash and put it back in during the same tax year without reducing your allowance; your provider can tell you if your ISA is flexible.

You can transfer all or part of your savings to another provider at any time, into the same or a different type of ISA, including money paid in in previous years. To do so:

1. Contact the provider you want to move to.
2. Fill out an ISA transfer form.
3. Do not withdraw the money yourself: if you withdraw it without the form, you will not be able to reinvest that part of your tax-free allowance.

There are restrictions on transfers if you have a Lifetime ISA or a Junior ISA, and a provider may charge a fee. A transfer between cash ISAs should take no more than 15 working days, and other transfers no more than 30 calendar days. If it drags on, contact your provider; if you are unhappy with the response, you can take the matter up with the Financial Ombudsman Service (numbers below).

What changes for ISAs from April 2027?

According to Budget 2026 of 28 October 2026, the government is retaining the cash ISA limit at £20,000 for all savers over 18 from April 2027 (as of November 2026). The Budget document gives the date as 6 April 2027 and says the government has decided not to reduce the cash ISA limit.

Earlier, at Budget 2025, a reduction of the cash ISA limit to £12,000 from 6 April 2027 for people under 65 was announced (GOV.UK). That announcement is no longer current: Budget 2026 did not keep it. The overall ISA limit in 2027/28 is still £20,000 (Annex A). The government has also said it will work with industry to explore a new incentive for people investing in a stocks and shares ISA for the first time.

Outside an ISA, the Personal Savings Allowance is the amount of interest you can earn without paying tax, depending on your tax band (as of November 2026):

From 6 April 2027 the tax rates on savings interest outside an ISA go up: in 2027/28 the savings basic rate will be 24% (currently 20%), the higher rate 44% and the additional rate 49%. These rates apply across the UK (GOV.UK, as of November 2026). If you are married or in a civil partnership, also see our guide to Marriage Allowance, the tax relief for married couples.

What happens to an ISA if you move abroad or the holder dies?

According to GOV.UK (as of November 2026), if you move abroad and stop being a UK resident you cannot pay money into your ISA (the exception is Crown employees working overseas and their spouses or civil partners). You must tell your ISA provider as soon as you stop being a UK resident. You can keep your ISA open and still get UK tax relief on the money and investments in it. If you become a UK resident again, you can pay in again, subject to the annual ISA allowance.

After the holder dies, the ISA provider will close the ISA 3 years and 1 day later if nothing happens sooner (for example, the executor may close it earlier). A Lifetime ISA ends on the date of the holder's death. Until then there is no Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax to pay, but the ISA investments form part of the estate for Inheritance Tax. If your spouse or civil partner dies, you can inherit their ISA allowance.

FSCS protection: limits for deposits and investments

We give the limits of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) as the FSCS publishes them (as of November 2026). To find out how they apply to your own account, check directly with the FSCS.

• Savings in banks, building societies and credit unions: from 1 December 2025 the FSCS can compensate you up to £120,000 per eligible person, per authorised firm, if a UK-authorised bank, building society or credit union goes out of business. The £120,000 limit applies only to deposits and savings.
• Investments: if the firm failed after 1 April 2019, the FSCS protects up to £85,000 per eligible person, per firm. For FSCS protection to apply, the provider or adviser must be authorised by the PRA or FCA, and the service and product must be regulated. The FSCS cannot accept claims for poor investment performance, because investments can go down as well as up.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The application to become a financial affairs deputy is made in different places (GOV.UK, as of November 2026):

• England and Wales: the Court of Protection,
• Scotland: the Office of the Public Guardian in Scotland,
• Northern Ireland: the Office of Care and Protection.

Frequently asked questions

Can I have several ISAs at the same time?

Yes. In one tax year you can pay into several accounts, but no more than £20,000 in total (as of November 2026, GOV.UK). You can pay into only one Lifetime ISA in a tax year, up to £4,000.

Do I have to declare my ISA on my tax return?

No. If you complete a tax return, you do not need to declare any ISA interest, income or capital gains on it (as of November 2026, GOV.UK).

Will the cash ISA limit fall from April 2027?

According to Budget 2026 of 28 October 2026, no: the government is retaining the cash ISA limit at £20,000 from April 2027 for all savers over 18 (as of November 2026). The earlier announced reduction was not kept.

Where to get help

• HMRC Income Tax helpline (general enquiries about ISAs; the "ISA Helpline" on GOV.UK leads to this page): telephone 0300 200 3300, Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, closed bank holidays. Page: Income Tax: enquiries (as of November 2026).
• Financial Ombudsman Service (if an ISA transfer drags on and you are unhappy with your provider's response): 0800 023 4567 from a landline, 0300 123 9123 from a mobile; Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday 9am to 1pm (GOV.UK, as of November 2026).
• FSCS: information on protection of deposits and investments.