Post ISA Charges

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#1

I understand that the ISA is Ā£3 a month, but I have a question on ā€œpostā€ subscription charges.

So if I were to open a FreeTrade ISA tomorrow, I would be charged Ā£3 per month for a year. If in the tax year 2022-23 i do not resubscribe to the FT ISA, but I leave my shares and money in place, would I still be charged?

In short, is the Ā£3 a subscription fee or an admin fee?

Thanks

#2

You will still be charged until you close it. There is no ā€˜resubscribeā€™. You either have an ISA open or you donā€™t. You pay for having one open.

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#3

Itā€™s an account/platform fee. You pay it as long as the ISA account is open and has nothing to do with whether or not you have subscribed in a particular year. This is standard practice for ISA platform fees.

Out of interest, have you encountered some other platform that only charges fees in years you subscribe to an ISA?

#4

I donā€™t think this is strictly true, but thanks anyway. I believe it is possible to have an ISA open with out being subscribed (the term used by gov btw).

Eg you can have two S&S ISAs open in a single tax year, but you can only contribute and subscribe to one.

#5

Thanks, this is pretty much what I assumed. I have not looked too deeply yet into where this is/isnā€™t true. Iā€™m just looking to diversify my ISAs over different platforms over years, while minimising charges where Iā€™m not strictly active.

#6

iWeb. They charge a one-time fee for opening an account. Other than a Ā£5 trading fee per trade there are no other platform fees at all.

#7

Yes, but platform fee is always absent with them. Thatā€™s not contingent on whether or not you are subscribing.

Similarly their other fees not contingent on whether or not youā€™re subscribing.

#8

Any empty / unsubscribed ISAs are closed at the end of tax year.

#9

An empty ISA is not necessarily the same an non-subscribed ISA.

Empty would mean no money or shares in the account. I could open an account, add funds and then remove funds to zero. The account would be zero but Iā€™m still subscribed for the tax year.

Inversely, I could haved added money last tax year, but not this one. My account would have a greater than zero balance but I would not be subscribed for the current tax year. There would be no reason or need for the (hypothetical) platform to close the account beyond not receiving admin fees.

Although, I agree that a zero balance, unsubscribed account is a closed account.

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