The Individual Savings Account (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2014

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Individual Savings Accounts Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/1870) (“the Regulations”).

Regulation 6(a) amends regulation 4ZA(1) of the Regulations to increase the overall subscription limit for ISAs — from £5,940 for ISA accounts held by individuals aged over 16 but under 18 and from £11,880 for individuals aged 18 and over — to £15,000 for both categories of individual. Regulation 6(b) revokes regulation 4ZA(2) of the Regulations so as to abolish the requirement that qualifying individuals may only invest up to 50 per cent of the overall subscription limit in any year in a cash account.

Regulation 7 increases the overall annual subscription limit for junior ISAs in regulation 4ZB of the Regulations from £3,840 to £4,000.

Regulation 14(p) revokes regulation 7(6) of the Regulations, which provided that only securities which had a repayment, redemption or repurchase requirement of greater than five years of acquisition at the time they were first held in the ISA could qualify as investments for stocks and shares ISAs (sometimes referred to as the “five year test”).

Regulation 14(u) revokes regulation 7(15) of the Regulations, which provided that only investments in relation to which there is no entitlement to a secured minimum return on the investment in the period of five years following acquisition could qualify as investments for stocks and shares ISAs (sometimes referred to as the “five per cent test”).

Regulation 15 amends regulation 8 of the Regulations (qualifying investments for a cash component) in order to remove reference to specified types of investment which will now qualify for inclusion in a stocks and shares ISAs following the amendment made by regulation 14(u). Regulation 15(c) adds two new qualifying investments for the cash component: short term money market funds and money market funds.

Regulation 14(o) provides for core capital deferred shares to be a qualifying investment for stocks and shares ISAs.

Regulation 19(1)(b) revokes regulation 21(4A) so as to permit transfers from stocks and shares ISAs to cash ISAs. Regulation 19(1)(c) amends regulation 21(4B) so as to provide that transfers of current year’s subscriptions from stocks and shares accounts to cash accounts are to be treated as if they had been made to cash accounts for all purposes.

The remaining regulations make minor and consequential amendments.

A Tax Information and Impact Note covering this instrument has been published on the HMRC website at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/thelibrary/tiins.htm.