ISA allowance 2026/27

One allowance shared across every ISA

There are four kinds of adult ISA: cash, stocks and shares, innovative finance and the Lifetime ISA. The overall allowance covers all of them together. A saver can put the whole amount into one account or split it between several, including two of the same kind. Accounts stay open when the tax year ends, and the money in them keeps its tax-free status.

Taking money out does not usually give any allowance back. A flexible ISA lets you replace withdrawn cash in the same tax year without using more allowance. Your provider can confirm whether the account is flexible and how replacements work. Lifetime ISAs have different withdrawal rules, set out below.

Paying in and taking money out

If you pay £10,000 into adult ISAs during 2026/27, you have £10,000 of the £20,000 allowance left. Interest and investment growth inside an ISA do not use your contribution allowance.

GOV.UK gives an example where you pay in £10,000 and take out £3,000 in the same tax year. With a non-flexible ISA, you can still add only £10,000. With a flexible ISA, the example allows £13,000: the unused allowance plus the money withdrawn. Check your provider's replacement rules. This example uses money paid in during the current tax year. Withdrawn money from earlier tax years must go back into the same flexible ISA before the tax year ends.

GOV.UK explains ISA withdrawals and this example. HMRC sets out current and previous year replacements in flexible ISAs. A provider-led ISA transfer follows separate rules.

The Lifetime ISA

A Lifetime ISA is meant for a first home or for later life. The saver must be at least eighteen and under forty to open one, and can keep paying in until fifty. The government adds a bonus in proportion to each payment, at the rate shown in the table above. Payments into a Lifetime ISA count towards the overall allowance, and only one Lifetime ISA can take payments in any tax year.

A first-home purchase can be charge-free if the property costs £450,000 or less and the purchase meets the other rules, including buying with a mortgage and waiting at least twelve months after the first payment. Withdrawals from age sixty, or for terminal illness with less than twelve months to live, can also be charge-free. Since 29 October 2026, a first-home purchase above the price cap that meets the other conditions has a 20% withdrawal charge. Other unauthorised withdrawals have a 25% charge, which can take back some of the saver’s own money as well as the bonus. HMRC explains the withdrawal charges. The house deposit calculator shows how long a deposit takes to build from monthly saving.

Junior ISAs

A Junior ISA is for a child under eighteen who lives in the UK, and it has its own yearly limit, separate from any adult's allowance. It can hold cash, stocks and shares, or one of each. A parent or guardian with parental responsibility opens and manages the account, and the money belongs to the child. The child can take charge of the account at sixteen and can withdraw the money at eighteen. A child cannot hold a Junior ISA and a Child Trust Fund at the same time, so an existing trust fund has to be transferred in.

The compound interest calculator shows how a starting sum and regular monthly payments grow at a chosen interest rate, over as many years as the account runs. Other allowances for 2026/27 are on the rates and thresholds page.