Hopefully, by now most of our clients will have completed any tax year end investments they were planning to do. However, our experience is that there is always a last minute rush for ISA and pension investments, so this is just a brief reminder that the tax year effectively finishes early this year.
Although the official end of the tax year is on Monday 5th April, the Easter weekend falls on 2nd – 5th April. Even though it’s not fully adopted in Scotland, you should note that most financial institutions will close for this holiday, so that means that the effective end of the tax year is Thursday 1st April 2021. In practical terms, banks and investment companies need to have cleared funds in their account by 1st April to make an ISA or pension investment for you. A transfer by BACs can take 3 – 5 days – you should be thinking about completing the transfer by Friday 26th March.
If you were thinking of a stocks & shares ISA, it’s now too late for us to advise. Our suggestion is that you put the money into an instant access cash ISA instead. This will secure your ISA allowance for 2020/21 but also gives us the option to transfer the investment when we have time to advise. Many people don’t realise that ISA’s can easily be transferred between cash and stocks & share (and back again) whilst retaining the tax free benefits. So as cash ISA’s are easier to access and carry no risk – that is our short term solutions – then ask us about a transfer in the new tax year. Don’t worry too much about rates – the main thing is to secure the ISA allowance.
It is important to take professional advice before making any decision relating to your personal finances. Information within this article does not provide individual tailored investment advice and is for guidance only. We cannot assume legal liability for any errors or omissions it might contain. Ethical Futures llp is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.