Is It Too Late To Open an ISA?

POSTED ON Friday, 20 March, 2020

The end of the tax year is April 6th, 2020…so how late is too late for me to open an ISA and use my allowance? 

An ISA is an account where you can keep your funds in a tax-free wrapper. With the end of the tax year rapidly approaching, you might be wondering if you’re too late to the party, and are not eligible to open a last-minute account to use your tax-free allowance.

But this isn’t the case at all. 

What’s the deadline for opening an ISA? 

You can open an ISA right up to the midnight deadline. 

The new tax year starts on April 6th 20202, so you can open a new ISA on April 5th 2020. 

Many providers in the digital age offer online set-up in addition to phone and bricks-and-mortar services, so if you’ve really left it til the last minute you can open an account and move your money into it on the evening of April 5th, from the comfort of your couch. 

Where should I look to get one? 

There are lots of options for people to open an ISA, but it does depend on how last-minute you’re talking. If it’s the night before the deadline, you’re going to want to open one online as most providers will be closed, as well as their phone lines. 

Where you can open your ISA will vary provider-to-provider, but in general the three ways you can open an ISA are: 

  1. Online
  2. By Phone 
  3. At a Branch

Where can I get one? 

You can get an ISA from…

  1. Banks
  2. Building societies
  3. Financial Services Companies
  4. Credit Unions
  5. Friendly societies
  6. Peer to peer lending services
  7. Crowdfunding companies 

I want to open an ISA. When should I do it? 

As soon as possible! 

The clock is ticking and the time between now and the deadline is only going to get shorter. 

You should sit down and think about what you want your money to do before opening an account. We have plenty of blogs which can help you do this, including: 

  1. How to choose a stocks and shares ISA
  2. Choosing Ethical stocks and shares ISAs
  3. Should I get a Cash ISA or a Cash Savings Account?
  4. 5 Funds to Consider for your 2020 investments

Want to read more? 

We’ve got pages and pages on our website which give you an overview of the best rates for ISAs, including: 

  1. Read more about Cash ISAs
  2. Read more about Investment ISAs
  3. Read more about Lifetime ISAs
  4. Read more about Peer-to-Peer ISAs
  5. Read more about Junior ISAs