ISA rules

• a UK resident - with two exceptions: Crown employees, such as diplomats or members of the armed forces, who are working overseas but paid by the government; and their husbands, wives or civil partners
• over 16 for the cash component
• over 18 for stocks and shares

An ISA must be in your name alone; you can't have a joint ISA.

For more information, please read Fidelity's guide to making the most of the new ISA rules 2008*

• The annual ISA investment allowance is £7,200
• All of your allowance can be invested in stocks and shares, or you can split it by investing up to £3,600 in cash and the remainder of the £7,200 in stocks and shares with either the same or a different provider.
• You can transfer money saved in previous years' cash ISA holdings to stocks and shares ISAs without affecting your current year's allowance.
• Mini and maxi ISAs no longer exist.  Instead, you can invest in two separate ISAs each tax year; a cash ISA and a stocks and shares ISA.
• Mini cash ISAs; TESSA-only ISAs (TOISAs); and the cash component of a maxi ISA have become cash ISAs.
• Mini stocks and shares ISAs and the stocks and shares component of a maxi ISA are now stocks and shares ISAs.
• All Personal Equity Plans (PEPs) are now stocks and shares ISAs
  

Your questions answered

All PEP accounts were re-classified as a "stocks and shares ISA", and are subject to ISA rules.  This also means that PEP investments are labelled as ISA on Account Management.

What happened to my existing ISAs?

If you held Mini cash ISAs, Tessa only ISAs (TOISAs) or cash components in a maxi ISA, these have been  reclassified as 'cash ISAs'.

Mini stocks and shares ISAs and the stocks and shares component of a maxi ISA will be reclassified as 'stocks and shares ISAs'.

Will I have to sign any new forms if I want to continue paying in to my ISA?

No - as long as you:

• saved in that ISA in the previous tax year 
• signed a continuous application form for that ISA, and 
• have not already saved in another ISA of the same type (cash or stocks and shares) during the current tax year.

However, if you transfer your ISA to a new provider, and you did not sign a continuous application form, or you did not save in your ISA in the previous tax year then you will have to complete a new ISA application form.

What are the benefits of moving my money from a cash ISA to a stocks and shares ISA?

You may want to consider transferring your money from a cash ISA to a stocks and shares ISA for the following reasons:

• Your goals and needs may have changed, so you should review your investments to ensure they are still appropriate.  Our investor profiles were developed to help with this and offer you investment ideas. If you think you have too much invested in cash you can adjust this by moving money to a stocks and shares ISA
• To ensure your portfolio is well diversified
• Fidelity's fund supermarket offers you a choice of over 1000 funds from over 55 providers to choose from for your stocks and shares ISA
• Once you move your cash to a stocks and shares ISA with Fidelity, you benefit from low switching charges of 0.5% within the fund supermarket if you change your mind about your fund choice later

How much can I transfer from my cash ISA to a stocks and shares ISA?

You can transfer some or all of the money you have saved in previous tax years without affecting your annual ISA investment allowance.

You can  also to transfer money saved in the current tax year. Such transfers must be the whole amount saved in that tax year in that cash ISA up to the day of the transfer.

These transfers are subject to the terms and conditions of your ISA providers.

If I transfer part/all of my cash subscription to a stocks and shares ISA, can I make any further payments to my ISA in the same tax year?

Yes - provided you haven't already used up your annual ISA investment allowance of £7,200.

For example, if you had saved £2,000 in a cash ISA and then transferred it to a stocks and shares ISA you would be able to make further investments totalling £5,200 in the year. You can either invest all of the £5,200 in a stocks and shares ISA or you could save up to £3,600 in a cash ISA or a combination of both. 

How do I transfer the money in my cash ISA to a stocks and shares ISA?

Exactly the same way as you would transfer your ISA to another provider.

You can use our online consolidation tool to transfer funds to any of the 1000 plus funds available from our fund supermarket, including  transfers from an existing cash ISA to a stocks and share ISA.

Please do not withdraw the money from your cash ISA or funds and reinvest it yourself as you will lose the associated tax allowance.

You will be out of the market while the transfer takes place. You may suffer loss of income and/or market growth from market movement in this period, but this could also work in your favour. This would naturally depend upon your fund choice and future market conditions, which can not be predicted in advance

Can I transfer the monies I have invested in my stocks and shares ISA to a cash ISA?

No, the rules only allow the transfer of monies saved in a cash ISA to a stocks and shares ISA but not vice versa.

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