New ISA limits

From 6th April to 30th June 2014, the maximum you can invest into an Investment ISA has risen to £11,880 and up to £5,940 can be put into a Cash ISA.

However, in a radical reform of ISAs, from 1st July 2014, a fully flexible new ISA  will come into existence.
There will be  two key changes:

• Firstly, instead of having separate allowances for cash and investments, there will be one new allowance of £15,000 each year and it will be up to you how much of this you put into cash and investments.

This means that if you invest a lump sum of up to £11,880 before 1st July 2014, you can top it up to £15,000 after this date. Monthly investors can start saving the maximum monthly amount of £1,250 immediately.

• Secondly, transfers between cash and investment ISAs will be fully flexible and you can move between the two unrestricted.

So, not only will you be able to shelter more of your income and gains from the tax man,  but you will be able to increase and decrease your risk at crucial times, such as when you approach retirement. Cash rates are miserable at the moment, however, as and when interest rates do get to around 5%, cash ISAs may be a decent option for those keen to reduce risk.

Junior ISA and Child Trust Fund (CTF) allowances also increased

The limits for both Junior ISAs and CTFs will rise from £3,840 to £4,000 from 1st July 2014.

Unfortunately the date from when CTFs can be transferred into Junior ISAs was not brought forward and remains, provisionally, April 2015.