Greg Hands MP has welcomed radical changes to savings which came into force this week.
From 1 July, millions of savers across the country are able to save up to three times as much money in their ISAs. As part of the New ISA, the cash limit has gone up from £5,760 in 2013-14 to £15,000 in 2014-15. These changes were set out in the Chancellor’s Budget statement in March.
The overall New ISA limit is £15,000 – and this full amount can be held in either in cash, stocks and shares, or any combination of the two.
The New ISA will give savers complete flexibility over how to save and invest – allowing the transfer of savings previously held in a stocks and shares ISA to a cash ISA without losing the tax advantage.
Over 23 million adults in the UK have ISAs, and over 5 million people reach their cash limit every year. In London 2,734,000 people have an ISA.
808,000 people in London had already reached the ISA limit for the current tax year and could benefit immediately from the increased limit.
At the same time, the annual subscription limits for Child Trust Funds (CTFs) and Junior ISAs will be increased to £4,000 to let families save more for their children in a tax-advantaged way.
Commenting on the change to savings rules, Greg said: “These changes are about supporting savers at every stage – whether that’s saving for a home, saving for your family or saving for retirement. The New ISA will help millions of people putting aside money in savings have more financial security. It’s part of the long term economic plan of this Government to help everyone keep more of what they earn and what they save.”