ISA Deadline 5 April: End-of-Year Checklist for 2025/26

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Quick answer

The UK ISA tax year ends at 23:59 on 5 April. Any of your £20,000 ISA allowance you haven't used by then is gone forever — there's no carry-forward to next year. From 6 April you get a fresh £20,000 for the 2026/27 tax year.

Two essential dates:

• 5 April 2026 — last day to use your 2025/26 allowance
• 6 April 2026 — fresh £20,000 allowance begins

Most providers stop accepting deposits late afternoon on 5 April, so don't leave it to the last minute.

Your pre-deadline checklist

1. Have I actually used the allowance?

Check every ISA you've paid into this tax year:

• Cash ISA(s)
• Stocks & Shares ISA(s)
• Lifetime ISA (LISA)
• Innovative Finance ISA
• Help to Buy ISA (if you still have one open)

Total contributions across all of these count toward the single £20,000 limit. Junior ISAs (for under-18s) sit outside this and have their own £9,000 allowance.

2. If you have spare allowance — should you fill it?

Use these as quick filters:

3. The LISA opportunity — and pitfall

The Lifetime ISA is genuinely the best deal in the UK savings landscape if you qualify:

• Open between ages 18 and 39.
• Contribute up to £4,000/year (within the £20,000 ISA allowance).
• Government adds a 25% bonus — up to £1,000 free per year.
• Use the money for either a first home (up to £450,000) or retirement from age 60.

But the pitfall, and it's a big one:

4. Cash vs Stocks & Shares — what to choose now?

For 2025/26 specifically:

• Cash ISA — best easy-access rates are around 4.2–4.5%, fixed 1-year rates around 4.5–4.7%. Fully protected by FSCS up to £85,000 per institution.
• Stocks & Shares ISA — historical long-term returns ~5–8% real, but with volatility. Better for money you won't touch for 5+ years.

A common pattern: keep an emergency fund in a Cash ISA, and steadily shift any longer-term savings into a Stocks & Shares ISA via regular contributions (pound-cost averaging).

5. The "bed and ISA" move

If you hold investments outside an ISA (e.g. a general investment account), you can sell them and immediately re-buy them inside your ISA — known as "bed and ISA". This:

• Crystallises any CGT liability outside the ISA (use your £3,000 2025/26 CGT allowance).
• Moves the assets into the ISA shelter for future tax-free growth and dividends.

Most platforms run a streamlined bed-and-ISA process where you instruct the move in a single transaction.

6. Check the actual cut-off your provider uses

Different providers have different practical cut-off times on 5 April:

• Online cash deposits — usually accepted until close-of-business (often 4–5pm).
• Bank transfer — must be received, not initiated, by 5 April. Faster Payments are usually instant, but allow a working-day buffer.
• Cheque or postal forms — must arrive much earlier; many providers stop accepting from late March.
• Stocks & Shares purchases — order must be placed before end of day; settlement happens after.

If 5 April falls on a weekend (it doesn't in 2026 — it's a Sunday in fact, wait: 5 April 2026 is a Sunday), your provider may use Friday's cut-off instead. Don't assume.

Common mistakes

1. Leaving it until 5 April. A failed payment at 11pm is a lost year of allowance.
2. Funding a Cash ISA, then transferring during the year without using a proper ISA transfer. Withdrawing and re-paying counts against your allowance twice (unless your ISA is a Flexible ISA — most aren't).
3. LISA after 50. You can keep money in a LISA forever but you can't add new contributions or claim a bonus after your 50th birthday.
4. Overcontributing. HMRC will eventually contact you to remove the excess and any related growth — and you may face tax on the gains.
5. Not using the junior allowance — children get a separate £9,000 a year that's also use-it-or-lose-it.

What to do on 6 April

If you've filled this year's allowance:

• Set up a standing order for next year's contributions across the year (much better than another last-minute scramble).
• Review which provider you're with — switching is now easier with the multiple-same-type-ISAs rule.
• Project the long-term value of consistent contributions — even £200/month over 25 years grows to roughly £150,000 at typical real returns.

Sources

• gov.uk: Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs)
• gov.uk: Lifetime ISA
• gov.uk: Junior ISA
• HMRC: ISA Manager Guidance