General investment account

An ISA, or Individual Savings Account, is a tax-efficient saving or investment account that allows you to put money into a wide range of investments, from individual stocks and shares to funds, bonds and ETFs. This type of account is also known as a ‘tax wrapper’ and essentially allows you to be exempt from paying income, capital gains and dividend tax when you place up to £20,000 into your ISA account.

You can pay into one stocks and shares ISA account in each tax year, so if you opened one already, you wouldn’t be able to open one until the new tax year starts. You can, however, transfer your existing stocks and shares ISA over from a different provider.

The 2020/21 ISA tax year allowance is £20,000. This is the maximum amount you can put into your stocks and shares ISA for the current tax year. Your unused allowance won’t be carried over to the following tax year, so make sure you make the most of it. 

To transfer your stocks and shares ISA from another provider to Freetrade, you just need to complete a form, and we will do the rest for you. The transfer process might take four to six weeks, but we will let you know when it’s all completed.

You’ll need to be 18 years of age or over and a UK resident. If you’ve already opened a stocks and shares ISA in the current tax year, you won’t be eligible for a new account. You can’t open a stocks and shares ISA for someone else.

The 2020/21 ISA tax year allowance is £20,000. This is the maximum amount you can put into your stocks and shares ISA for the current tax year. Your unused allowance won’t be carried over to the following tax year, so make sure you make the most of it. 

You don’t need thousands of pounds to open an ISA account. If you want to open a stocks and shares ISA with Freetrade, you can start from £2.