Compare the best cash ISA rates

Interest you earn from a savings account is subject to income tax. Depending on your income tax banding, up to 50% of any interest you earn goes straight to the taxman!

But cash ISAs are different…

ISA is short for an “Individual Savings Account”. Unlike normal savings accounts or investments, interest earned from a cash ISA is completely tax-free.

The higher the rate of tax you pay, the more beneficial a cash ISA will be compared to a normal savings account. This table shows the rates you’d need to match a cash ISA with a non-ISA savings account:

	Gross Rate needed from a normal savings account
Cash ISA Gross Rate	Basic Rate Taxpayer (20%)	Higher Rate Taxpayer (40%)	Additional Rate Taxpayer (50%)
2.00%	2.50%	3.34%	4.00%
2.50%	3.13%	4.17%	5.00%
3.00%	3.75%	5.00%	6.00%
3.50%	4.38%	5.83%	7.00%
4.00%	5.00%	6.67%	8.00%
4.50%	5.63%	7.50%	9.00%

2013-14 ISA allowance

Cash ISAs can only have a maximum amount paid into them in each tax year (which runs between 6 April and the following 5 April).

In the 2013-14 tax year the Cash ISA allowance is £5,760.

You must pay your money in before 5 April 2014, to make the most of your 2013-14 ISA limit. If you don’t use it, you lose it!

If you also have an investment ISA, you may not be able to put this much into your cash ISA. Read our ISA guide to find out more, including the limits for investment ISAs and how you can split your money between investments and cash.

How to transfer a cash ISA

You can transfer your existing cash ISA, without losing the tax-free privileges. The two main reasons you’d do this are to:

• Get a more competitive interest rate
• Bring all your cash ISA funds together in one place

Here’s how the ISA transfer process works:

1. Make sure your existing cash ISA doesn’t charge any penalties for transferring to a new provider. If it does, weigh up whether the transfer will be in your interest.
2. Research the best ISA rates.
   
3. Find a new cash ISA that accepts “transfers in”. Note: you can only open one new cash ISA account per tax year.
4. Tell your new cash ISA provider that you wish to transfer an ISA and they will provide you with a transferral form.
5. Complete the short form and return to your new provider.
6. Your new ISA provider will now go back to your old bank or building society to get the money transferred.
7. Under current rules this process should take no longer than 15 working days.

Don’t bypass this process by withdrawing your cash from your old ISA and putting it into a new one. If you withdraw cash from an ISA it loses its tax-free treatment. Plus, depending on the size of your savings pot, you may not be able to put all of your money into the new cash ISA as it will exceed your annual ISA allowance.

What next?

Compare the best ISA rates with our independent and unbiased Best Buys:

• Variable rate cash ISAs
• 1 year fixed rate cash ISAs
• 2 year fixed rate cash ISAs
• 3 to 5 year fixed rate cash ISAs

Our ISA Best Buys include those which allow you to transfer to a new ISA provider, just check the column "transfer in".

Find all the best cash ISAs with Moneyfacts.co.uk Savings search
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