You can put up to £20,000 into ISAs in the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027). That’s one allowance shared across all your ISAs, not £20,000 each. Up to £4,000 of it can go into a Lifetime ISA, and children get a separate £9,000 Junior ISA allowance.
Budget update, 28 October 2026: the planned cut to £12,000 for cash ISAs has been scrapped. From 6 April 2027 the allowance stays £20,000, and you can still put all of it into cash if you want to.
How much can you put in an ISA each year?
The amount you can put into ISAs each year is called your ISA allowance. It runs with the tax year, from 6 April to 5 April, and it’s £20,000. If you don’t use it, it doesn’t roll over into the next tax year. It’s a use-it-or-lose-it situation.
Here’s how the limits work for each type of ISA:
| ISA type | 2026/27 | 2027/28 (from 6 April 2027) | Counts towards your £20,000? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash ISA | Up to £20,000 | Up to £20,000 (the £12,000 cut is scrapped) | Yes |
| Stocks and shares ISA | Up to £20,000 | Up to £20,000 | Yes |
| Innovative finance ISA | Up to £20,000 | Up to £20,000 | Yes |
| Lifetime ISA (open at 18 to 39) | Up to £4,000 | Up to £4,000 | Yes |
| Junior ISA (under-18s) | £9,000 per child | £9,000 per child | No, it’s the child’s own allowance |
| Help to Buy ISA (existing savers only) | Up to £200 a month | Up to £200 a month | Yes, it’s a cash ISA |
| Total across your adult ISAs | £20,000 | £20,000 | This is the overall limit |
The £20,000 allowance has been the same since April 2017, and the government has said it will stay at £20,000 until 5 April 2031.
Is the cash ISA limit changing in 2027?
No, not any more. At the Autumn Budget 2025, the government announced that from 6 April 2027 under-65s could only put £12,000 a year of their £20,000 into cash ISAs, with the other £8,000 going into investments. It later added a ban on moving money from a stocks and shares ISA into a cash ISA, and a 22% charge on interest from cash held in a stocks and shares ISA.
The Budget on 28 October 2026 reversed the lot. The cash ISA limit stays £20,000 for all savers aged 18 and over, there’s no age split, and HMRC has confirmed the transfer ban and the charge won’t happen. The regulations behind the £12,000 limit are due to be revoked in November 2026.
What is changing is tax on savings outside ISAs. From 6 April 2027, interest above your Personal Savings Allowance will be taxed at 24%, 44% or 49% depending on your tax band, up from 20%, 40% and 45%. So using your ISA allowance is worth a bit more than it was. My guide to the 2027 ISA changes covers every detail.
What ISAs can I use my allowance with?
There are plenty of ISAs out there, from lots of different providers. Your adult allowance can go into any mix of these:
- Cash ISA: a savings account with tax-free interest.
- Stocks and shares ISA: invest in funds, shares and bonds with no tax on growth, dividends or interest. Its value can fall as well as rise.
- Innovative finance ISA: tax-free returns from peer-to-peer lending (lending to people or businesses through a platform). Higher risk, and not covered by the FSCS in the same way.
- Lifetime ISA: for a first home or retirement, with a 25% government bonus.
On top of that, under-18s can have a Junior ISA, which has its own allowance.
When you’re choosing, look at the terms on the account and any fees. With investments, past performance doesn’t tell you what you’ll get in future, so focus on costs and how much risk you’re comfortable with.
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How to split my ISA allowance
Your ISA allowance is yours to use how you see fit. There are just a few limits:
- You can’t pay more than £20,000 a year in total into your adult ISAs.
- No more than £4,000 of that can go into a Lifetime ISA, and you can only pay into one Lifetime ISA each tax year.
- Since April 2024 you can pay into more than one ISA of the same type in a tax year, for example two cash ISAs, as long as the total stays within £20,000.
So an example of what you could do would be to pay:
- £4,000 into a Lifetime ISA
- £10,000 into a stocks and shares ISA
- £6,000 into a cash ISA
This would use your entire £20,000 allowance. If you instead chose to pay:
- £4,000 into a Lifetime ISA
- £9,000 into a stocks and shares ISA
- £5,000 into a cash ISA
That’s a total of £18,000. The £2,000 you haven’t used would vanish at the end of the tax year when your ISA allowance resets.
A Lifetime ISA is only an option if you’re 18 to 39 when you open it. If you’re 40 or over, your full £20,000 goes across the other ISA types.
Read nextISA vs Savings Account – Which One Is Best For You?What counts towards your ISA allowance (and what doesn’t)
This is where people trip up. Only new money you pay in counts.
| This counts towards your £20,000 | This doesn’t |
|---|---|
| Every payment you make into an ISA this tax year | Interest, dividends and growth inside your ISAs |
| Money you put back after a withdrawal, unless the ISA is flexible | Transfers of money you paid in during earlier tax years |
| Lifetime ISA payments (but not the 25% bonus) | The Lifetime ISA bonus |
| Help to Buy ISA payments | Your child’s Junior ISA payments |
Say you’ve got £60,000 built up in a stocks and shares ISA over the years. You can still pay in a fresh £20,000 this tax year, and the growth on the £60,000 doesn’t count against you.
Withdrawals and flexible ISAs
If your ISA is flexible, you can take money out and put it back in the same tax year without it using more allowance. The government’s own example: you pay in £10,000 this tax year and take out £3,000.
- With a flexible ISA you can still pay in £13,000 this tax year.
- With a non-flexible ISA you can only pay in £10,000.
Your provider will tell you if your ISA is flexible. Lifetime ISAs aren’t.
Moving an ISA doesn’t use your allowance
If you transfer an ISA to a new provider, or from cash to stocks and shares or back, it doesn’t use up any allowance. Since April 2024 you can move all or part of it, including money you paid in this year. Just make sure you use the transfer process. If you withdraw the money and pay it in yourself, it counts as a new payment.
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Get your free money planCan you put more than £20,000 in an ISA?
Not in one tax year. £20,000 is the most you can pay in across all your adult ISAs between 6 April and 5 April. Most providers will stop you going over on their own account, but they can’t see what you’ve paid in elsewhere, so it’s on you to keep track if you have ISAs with more than one provider.
If you do go over, the extra money and anything it’s earned can’t stay in the ISA. HMRC will usually spot it and the provider will be told to take the excess out, and you may owe tax on what it earned. If you realise you’ve gone over, contact your provider or HMRC rather than waiting.
There are two ways your ISA can legally hold more than £20,000 in a year:
- Building up over time: there’s no limit on how big your ISAs can grow. Every year’s allowance stacks on top of the last.
- Inheriting from a spouse or civil partner: if your husband, wife or civil partner dies, you get a one-off extra allowance equal to the value of their ISAs, on top of your own £20,000. It’s called an additional permitted subscription, and unmarried partners don’t get it.
If you’ve got more to save or invest after your ISA allowance, a pension, a normal savings account or a general investment account are the usual next steps, but they don’t have the same tax protection.
Tax benefits and government bonuses
ISAs are tax-efficient ways of saving money. You don’t pay Income Tax on interest, or tax on dividends or capital gains, from anything inside your ISA. You don’t even need to mention them on a tax return. That means you can grow your money without the worry of paying tax on anything you earn.
Lifetime ISA bonus
Some ISAs come with a government bonus. With a Lifetime ISA you can pay in up to £4,000 a year and the government adds 25%, so you can turn £4,000 into £5,000 each year with a £1,000 bonus. You can keep paying in until you’re 50.
The catch is what you can use it for. Take the money out for anything other than your first home (costing £450,000 or less), once you’re 60 or if you’re terminally ill, and there’s a 25% charge, which wipes out the bonus and some of your own money too. From 29 October 2026, the charge drops to 20% if you use it for a first home costing more than £450,000.
The government plans to replace the Lifetime ISA for new savers with a First Time Buyer ISA from April 2029. If you open a Lifetime ISA before then, you can keep paying into it under the current rules.
A Lifetime ISA option for investing
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Help to Buy ISA bonus
The Help to Buy ISA closed to new savers in 2019. If you already have one, it pays a 25% government bonus when you buy your first home, up to £3,000. To get the full £3,000 you need to have saved £12,000.
You can keep paying in up to £200 a month until 30 November 2029, and you must claim the bonus by 1 December 2030. The home must cost no more than £250,000, or £450,000 in London.
The Lifetime ISA can run for a lot longer, with up to £1,000 in bonus every year you max out the £4,000. That’s one reason the Help to Buy ISA isn’t as attractive.
Are ISAs safe?
You need to make sure any savings you make are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). It protects cash, including cash ISAs, up to £120,000 per person per bank, building society or credit union if it goes bust.
Some banks are connected and share one banking licence, which means they share one £120,000 limit. If you’ve got more than that saved, you might want to spread it across providers that don’t share a licence. You can check on the FSCS website.
Stocks and shares ISAs are covered up to £85,000 per person per firm if the firm fails and can’t give you your investments back. Nothing protects you from your investments falling in value. That’s the risk you take for the chance of higher growth.
When you invest, your capital is at risk.
Consider an emergency fund first
Before maxing out your ISA allowance, think about what happens if something goes wrong. Perhaps you lose your job or need cash for an expensive car repair. It could be that you need to put money towards your health, which is priceless.
As well as making the most of your ISA allowance, it’s worth having an emergency fund that can support you, just in case. A common rule of thumb is three to six months of your basic outgoings, like your rent or mortgage, utility bills and food for the table.
An easy access or flexible cash ISA can be a good home for it, because you can get at the money quickly and put it back without losing allowance. What you want to avoid is locking all your savings into fixed-rate ISAs with exit penalties, or investments you might have to sell at a bad time. That way you can concentrate on the situation at hand without worrying about the financial impact.
Best Stocks and Shares ISAs 2026
Get access to the best investment ISAs on the market, compared on fees and features.
View Best ISAsOther ways to save
You might look at ISAs and decide they’re not for you right now. Easy access savings accounts are worth a look, and some current accounts pay a decent rate on a small balance. If you can lock your money away for a year or more, fixed-rate savings usually pay more.
Outside an ISA you can earn £1,000 of interest a year tax-free as a basic rate taxpayer, or £500 as a higher rate taxpayer, thanks to the Personal Savings Allowance. Once your interest goes above that, an ISA starts to save you tax, and from April 2027 it’ll save you more.
Unfortunately, as a couple you can’t open a joint ISA to save together. But you each get your own £20,000 allowance, so between you that’s up to £40,000 a year tax-free as a household. Saving apps can also help you put money aside automatically; I’ve rounded up the best money saving apps.
ISA Allowance FAQs
How much can you put in an ISA each year?
£20,000 across all your adult ISAs combined in 2026/27, and the same in 2027/28. It runs with the tax year and doesn’t roll over, so any unused allowance is lost after 5 April.
Is the cash ISA limit going down to £12,000 in 2027?
No. The 28 October 2026 Budget scrapped that plan. From 6 April 2027 everyone aged 18 or over can still put the full £20,000 into a cash ISA.
Can I pay into more than one ISA?
Yes. Since April 2024 you can pay into more than one ISA of the same type in the same tax year, for example two cash ISAs, as long as your total stays within £20,000. The exception is the Lifetime ISA: you can only pay into one a year.
Can I put more than £20,000 into an ISA?
Not in a single tax year. £20,000 is the most you can pay in across all your ISAs. Your ISAs can grow beyond that over time, and if you inherit a spouse’s or civil partner’s ISA you get an extra allowance on top.
How much can you put in a cash ISA or a stocks and shares ISA?
Up to £20,000 in either, or any split between them, as long as the total across all your ISAs is no more than £20,000. That’s still the case from April 2027.
How much can you put in a Lifetime ISA or Junior ISA?
Up to £4,000 a year into a Lifetime ISA, which counts towards your £20,000 and earns a 25% government bonus. A Junior ISA has a separate £9,000 a year allowance per child that doesn’t count towards your own.
Does interest count towards my ISA allowance?
No. Only the money you pay in counts. Interest, dividends and investment growth inside your ISA don’t use any allowance, and neither do transfers of money from previous years.
How much do you need to open an ISA?
Often very little. Many providers let you start from £1 or set up a small regular payment, so you don’t need a lump sum to begin. Some fixed-rate cash ISAs and investment platforms have higher minimums.
Conclusion
Now you know how much you can put into an ISA every year: £20,000, split however suits you, with no cash cut coming in April 2027. You can start working towards making the most of that allowance, even if it’s a little at a time.
If you want more on making the most of your allowances, these five ISA and tax podcast episodes are a good place to start.
