ISA deadline information

The ISA deadline is at 11.59pm on 5th April. 

Savers have until this time to add to their tax-free savings accounts. If savers miss this deadline, they lose any unused allowance for that tax year.

UK residents get an ISA allowance for each tax year. This dictates exactly how much you can save in a tax-free cash or investment ISA. At the end of each tax year, the ISA allowance is reset. 

This is why the end of each tax year is known as the ISA deadline. In the UK, the tax year runs from 6th April to midnight on 5th April.

Every UK resident over the age of 18 has the same cash ISA allowance. The allowance for the tax year 2025/2026 is £20,000.

You can save up to £20,000, tax-free, into any combination of permitted ISAs. 

For example, you may choose to spread your savings across a cash ISA or stocks and shares. Any interest you earn on your savings doesn’t count towards your Personal Savings Allowance.

Before April 2016, any money withdrawn from your ISA still counted towards your allowance, even if it was replaced. 

For example, if you were to deposit £15,000 into your ISA and then withdraw £4,000, the amount you could deposit into your account during that same tax year was only £5,000. 

This is because the £4,000, even though it’s been withdrawn, has swallowed up some of your tax-free allowance.

Fortunately, ISA flexibility introduced a little wiggle room. Now you can withdraw and replace money into your ISA without it counting towards your annual allowance. 

However, you should always consult your ISA provider to check that they offer flexibility, and whether they charge a fee for early withdrawals. This is often the case for fixed rate ISAs.

It is a condition that the money be reinvested with the same ISA provider and within the same tax year as the withdrawal.