[Feature Request šŸ”§] Internal GIA to ISA transfers (Bed and ISA)

Ah great to know, thank you both!

Just wondering what will happen with new ISAs for the upcoming tax yearā€¦

Does anyone know?

Will we get an additional tab for the extra ISA (I.e. ISA2021, ISA2022)?

Or will we just get an additional Ā£20k allowance on the ISA tab?

Iā€™d prefer the latter if thatā€™s possible!

FreeTrade could definitely support something like this though - isnā€™t this known as a ā€˜Bed & ISAā€™?

Essentially all your GIA shares are sold and instantly rebought in your ISA.

Thatā€™s not possible at the moment due to the requirement for cash to settle before you can transfer it to your ISA. Feels like this is something FT could help with.

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Youā€™ll just have one ISA where all your investments appear, and your annual allowance will reset to Ā£20,000 at the beginning of the tax year. (If you happen to have other ISAs with other brokers or banks, it is up to you to keep track of how much you have put in across all of your ISAs yourself, no provider knows what you have invested at another provider.)

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Yes, thatā€™s right, thatā€™s ā€˜bed and ISAā€™. Larger brokers do it to make things more convenient for their customers, but Freetrade doesnā€™t offer it. There is a feature request thread for it, but I get the sense itā€™s not a priority for them:

https://community.freetrade.io/t/feature-request-bed-isa/5960/2

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As per help, if youā€™d like to transfer cash between your GIA and ISA, drop us a message via the in-app chat.
Unfortunately, itā€™s now a Plus option. So what is the right way now?

Can I transfer shares between my General Investment Account and ISA? | Support (freetrade.io)

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Money@freetrade.io are your people now :ok_hand:t2:

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Is it possible to transfer my shares from my GIA into an ISA with Freetrade?

If not, will I effectively have to sell off my shares and re buy them in the ISA. Is there a better way? Of course by doing that it will put me at risk of losing money if the stocks I re-purchased in the ISA increase in value during the time period between selling and re-buying.

Similarly, as I have already invested into a stocks and shares ISA this year, I assume I will have to wait until the new Tax Year to do this. Out of interest, what is the penalty for investing in more than one S&S ISAs in the same year. Surely, many people will do this unknowingly?!

Thanks in advance

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Yes mate unfortunatley you have to sell the shares and rebuy them in the ISA,takes a few days aswell because when you sell the shares in the GIA the cash may not settle for 2-3days,then put a request in once its settled cash to move it to your ISA which says takes 2-3 days but sometimes less than a day not ideal but it is what it is i suppose i made the same mistake.:rofl:

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Unfortunately you will have to sell as you canā€™t transfer shares into ISA my friend! :disappointed: I found myself rebuying some same companyā€™s in my ISA
If I felt was good prospect example like my Lloyds or legal and general!

I actually waiting till was in profit in Gia before selling and with already buying them for ISA when was low didnā€™t lose!
Even if made few quid and just reinvest into ISA ones
Hope this helps

May be better to sell when your shares are actually at their lowest values, then you minimise any % charges.

I sold my GIA shares in one account recently and re-bought in an ISA to make sure I donā€™t go over the capital gains limit.

Thanks guys.

Pretty frustrating, but hey ho. Good job itā€™s Tax Year End very soon.

Yeah, itā€™s annoying but donā€™t blame Freetrade. Itā€™s a rule that only cash can be deposited into an ISA, so no way around this one.

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First of all, thank you for this amazing product. One of the features that I have been waiting, is to support transferring shares from a GIA to ISA account. Currently, as your support page mention, it is not possible.

Are you planning to implement this feature in a near future? Do you even have this feature on your roadmap? I believe many users are interested in this feature since they start using the free version GIA and after they reach a certain volume of shares, then it makes sense to move everything to a ISA account and pay 3Ā£ per month.

Cheers :slight_smile:

This isnā€™t a limitation in FT, it is not possible to move shares from your GIA into your ISA.

Youā€™ll have to sell your shares in your GIA, move the money to your ISA and buy them from within your ISA. This is known as ā€œbed and ISAā€ - youā€™ll find plenty of info if you google the term.

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What might be good is an automated process for this. One click to sell your shares move the money into the ISA and rebuy them. Right now if you have more than a few stocks it would take ages fumbling through he app to do it all manually.

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Thank you for your answer, I was not aware of the term ā€œbed and ISAā€ :bowing_man:

Do you know if itā€™s possible to move shares the other way around? Transfer my shares from a ISA to a GIA?

Yes, but no. I believe you would have to sell your holdings in the ISA, transfer the money to the GIA and then repurchase the shares. But thereā€™s no point in doing that unless your goal is to increase your tax liabilities.

With the GIA you have a Ā£12,300 capital gains allowance and Ā£2k dividends allowance, i.e. tax free capped. With the ISA, all gains and dividends are tax free. Bare in mind that legislation may change in the future

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Sell my shares and repurchase them it means losing money, which I am not interested. My only concern is that if I move to another country. Then I cannot charge my ISA account anymore. I know that Freetrade only supports UK but they are planning to expand to Europe next year.

I can see two ways to make this work, assuming you have both a GIA and an ISA:
a) you sell your positions in the GIA at a loss and repurchase them in the ISA at a lower price than your first purchase;
b) you stop funding your GIA and fund your ISA only, carry on buying whatever you want to buy on the ISA only, and wait for the price of your GIA holdings hit a price you like and then sell.
Makes sense?

Correct. You wonā€™t be able to continue to fund your ISA if you leave the UK. But whatever is there before you leave can stay and remain tax free. Unless a) the UK government changes the legislation, or b) the country where you will be living in charges taxes on overseas income; you would need to consult a lawyer or a financial adviser in your new country of residence in order to clarify - the two countries may have an agreement in place that prevents double taxation or something elseā€¦

Even with expansion to continental european countries the issue above would apply

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