If you are looking to have a nest egg for the future and considering the many investment options open to you, have you considered investing in an ISA? If not, why not? Although investing in stocks and shares may provide you with greater capital gains, there is also many risks involved in that those kinds of investments that mean you could lose more than you make. However, as you will see below, there are many benefits of an Investment ISA.
A Tax-Efficient Form Of Saving Money
ISAs are a very good way to save money that you want to use in the future – when you retire, for example. We are all entitled to an ISA allowance and by investing in one and making the most of this allowance, you could potentially increase your income and growth on your investment without doing very much at all.
You Are Not Liable To Pay Capital Gains Tax
Regardless of how much your ISA investment grows in the future or how much money you withdraw from your account, you are not liable to pay any CGT or Capital Gains Tax on the investments you have in an ISA.
You Are Not Liable To Pay Income Tax
Another benefit of ISAs and why they are considered to be one of the most tax-efficient forms of investment is that they are completely free form Income Tax. No matter how much money you accumulate in income or growth in your ISA, it is all yours to keep and do with as you please. However, it is also important to note that dividend income is still taxed at 10% and there is no way to reclaim this.
You Don’t Have To Declare ISAs On Your Tax Returns
When you choose to invest money into an ISA, your tax return becomes a lot easier to fill out as you do not have to declare the amount you have invested, held or have taken out from your ISA. The HMRC do not need you to apply Income or Capital Gains Tax on investments held in your ISA, so that is one less thing for you to fill out when completing your tax returns for the tax year.
The Risks
It is crucial that as well as taking on board the benefits above that you also pay close attention to some of the risks involved. When you take out a Stocks and Shares ISA, the investment value can go down just as easily as it can go up and there are no guarantees. You may end up with less money than you invested. While there is no set in stone length of time you are expected to invest for; you should be prepared to invest money for a minimum of 5 years.
Your eligibility to invest using an ISA and the value of the tax savings you could make will depend on your own specific financial circumstances and tax rules could change in the future.
