Individual savings accounts (ISAs) give you a way to make your money grow without letting the taxman reap the benefits.

If you pay tax, the government gets 20% of whatever you earn on your savings - more if you’re a higher interest tax payer. Not with an ISA. With an ISA, you get your interest tax free. In fact you don’t even have to tell the tax office you have one.

Cash or Stocks?

There are two types of ISA: Cash or Stocks and shares

A Cash ISA is a very low risk way of saving money. Because the interest you receive is tax free, Cash ISAs offer a better return than most savings accounts. krbs offers a range of Cash ISAs, both variable and fixed rate.

With a Stocks and shares ISA you are investing in the stock market. While this offers the potential for better returns, it also involves more risk than a Cash ISA. We don’t currently offer this type of ISA.

The rules of the game

 Naturally there are rules. The HMRC rules state that:

  • The most you can invest in ISAs in any given year is £10,680. The most you can invest in a Cash ISA is £5,340.
  • You can only hold one Cash ISA and one Stocks and shares ISA.
  • You must be at least 16.
  • Only an individual can hold an ISA: they can’t be held in joint names or for someone else
  • You can only subscribe to one Cash ISA and one Stocks and shares ISA in any tax year. But you can spread your Cash ISA subscriptions across any number of krbs ISA products as they all will be considered as one Cash ISA for HMRC purposes.

For the rules governing each krbs ISA, please see the individual product page. If you are considering subscribing to a krbs Cash ISA, please make sure you read the
ISA terms and conditions, as well as our savings and investment product guide

What’s the catch?

Apart from the rules above, there aren’t really any major drawbacks to ISAs.
They may not be right for you if you don’t pay income tax, as in this case you can receive most interest without paying tax.

Another drawback concerns withdrawals. If you have invested your maximum amount in an ISA and then withdraw some of the money, you can’t put it back into the account. If you need to take out and replace funds, you may be better off with a different type of savings account.

Finally, the tax status of ISAs described above is correct at present. However, the government may change this in the future – something which no ISA provider has any control over.