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Stocks and Shares ISA

Stocks and shares ISA

Stocks and Shares ISA

An easy way to invest free from UK tax

Top up an ISA Open a Stocks and Shares ISA

Open your Stocks and Shares ISA Transfer an ISA to us

Important information - Investments can go down as well as up in value, so you may get back less than you invest. The information on this page isn't personal advice - please ask us for financial advice if you’re not sure which investments are right for you. Tax rules for ISAs can change and their benefits depend on your circumstances.

The words Stocks and Shares ISA are presented on screen as the video starts. The video is animated with various scenes providing illustrations and metaphors for the narration.

A Stocks and Shares ISA offers a simple and tax-efficient way to grow your money for the future.

It’s not an investment in its own right, it’s a type of account.

And it’s special because when you buy investments within an ISA you shelter them from UK tax.

This means that if your investments grow, you won’t have to pay capital gains tax on any future profits.

And if you’re investing for income, you won’t pay UK income tax either, which means you could save thousands of pounds in tax over the long term.

But remember tax rules change and benefits depend on individual circumstances.

You have the flexibility to take money out whenever you need to, but because of the excellent tax benefits, the government limits how much you can put into ISAs each tax year.

This is known as the ISA allowance, it changes from year to year, but for the current year you can pay in up to £20,000 and you have until the 5th of April to use this or you’ll lose it.

How you choose to use your ISA allowance is up to you.

You can invest it all in a Stocks and Shares ISA, or you can spread your allowance between any combination of the other ISAs available, including Cash, Innovative Finance and if eligible, Lifetime ISAs.

A Stocks and Shares ISA gives you the freedom to invest in a wide range of investments, including funds and UK and international shares and bonds.

You can also hold cash, so you can secure your valuable tax break now, and then chose the investments when you’re ready.

If you’re looking for a simple and tax-efficient way to save for the future, a Stocks and Shares ISA is an excellent option.

You can start investing with a lump sum of £100 or £25 per month.

Unlike cash, investments can fall as well as rise in value so you could get back less than you invest. Tax rules can change and the tax benefits of ISAs will depend on your circumstances. This video isn’t personal advice, if you’re not sure whether an investment is right for you, please contact us for advice.

Simple, convenient, sensible

Whether you're new to investing or already an expert, you can choose your own investments with our Stocks and Shares ISA.

A Stocks and Shares ISA is an easy way for you to invest free from UK tax. And although investing is best for the long term, you can withdraw your money whenever you need to.

What is a Stocks and Shares ISA?

You can think of a Stocks and Shares ISA as a shopping basket. The investments you put in the basket are up to you, and the ISA shelters them from UK income tax and capital gains tax.

More Stocks and Shares ISA basics

Invest up to £20,000 this tax year

How much can I invest in an ISA?

Each tax year (6 April to 5 April) there’s a limited amount of money you can put in ISAs. This tax year the ISA allowance is £20,000.

Tax rules for ISAs can change and their benefits depend on your circumstances.

ANNUAL 0.45% ACCOUNT CHARGE

HL ISA charges

The annual charge for holding investments in an HL Stocks and Shares ISA is never more than 0.45%.

Your dealing and other charges will depend on the investments you choose.

See our Stocks and Shares ISA charges

ISA Investment Ideas

How much could your ISA be worth?

Our ISA calculator can help you picture different scenarios. While it only provides examples, which aren’t guaranteed, you can experiment with different variables.

Change things like how much you expect to pay in each year, or the potential rate of investment growth. You might be surprised by the results.

Try the calculator

An ISA with a promise

Open an HL Stocks and Shares ISA, and if you’re not 100% satisfied with our service in your first 12 months, close your account and let us know. We’ll then refund our annual account charge – no questions asked.

Open an HL Stocks and Shares ISA, and if you’re not 100% satisfied with our service in your first 12 months, close your account and let us know. We’ll then refund our annual account charge – no questions asked.

This offer is subject to these terms and conditions. The offer is that if you open a HL Stocks and Shares ISA (the “HL Account”) and you are not completely satisfied with the service and ask to close the HL Account within the first 12 months, we will refund any annual charges you have paid to HL within that period in relation to the HL Account (the “Satisfaction Promise Refund”).
To be eligible for the offer, you must be a new client. A new client is a person who has not held an account with Hargreaves Lansdown Group. This offer will not apply to any assets (which shall include cash) transferred from an existing Hargreaves Lansdown account (whether or not in the same client’s name) into a new HL Account.
In order to benefit from this offer, you must either close the HL Account or request a transfer out of all your assets from the HL Account within a 12 month period of opening the account. If you open an HL Account with a cash payment, the 12 month period will commence from the date the cash payment is made into the account. If you open a HL Account with a transfer in of assets, the 12 month period will begin from the date the first transfer of assets is received by HL from the previous provider.
The value of your Satisfaction Promise Refund will be based on the total amount of annual charges you have paid us from the date of account opening until closure of the account. The value of the refund will be calculated at the point of account closure.
To request your refund, all you need to do is contact our Helpdesk on 0117 900 9000 or email helpdesk@hl.co.uk within the first 12 months of your account opening.
Refunds will be made within 10 days of the account closure. The payment will be made into your Loyalty Bonus account from which we will automatically pay it out to your nominated bank account or by cheque at our discretion.
This offer only covers our annual charges. These are the charges levied by HL for holding funds and/or shares. For more information about the charges for the HL Account, please see the Terms and Conditions of the HL Service). For the avoidance of doubt, this offer does not cover any other charges including but not limited to dealing charges, foreign exchange charges, any investment losses or any charges levied by third parties (such as fund management charges, including those levied by Hargreaves Lansdown Fund Managers Ltd). Exit fees from other providers are not included in this offer.
For the avoidance of doubt, a Satisfaction Promise Refund will only apply to the closure of the qualifying HL Account, as identified at clause 1 above. The closure of any other HL accounts will not qualify for a Satisfaction Promise Refund.
The Satisfaction Promise Refund cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotional offer.
Our standard terms relating to your HL Account continue to apply (the Terms and Conditions of the HL Service) and are not affected in any way by this offer other than as specifically set out in these terms and conditions.
This Satisfaction Promise Refund is not regulated by the FCA.
This offer is not open to employees of Hargreaves Lansdown or their immediate families.
We reserve the right to amend, suspend or withdraw this offer at any time by providing notice on our website at www.hl.co.uk. We will provide at least 30 days’ notice of our intention to withdraw the offer. In the event of a closure of this offer, all qualifying refunds requested up to the time of withdrawal will be honoured.
This offer is governed by English law and, in participating, you submit to the jurisdiction of the English courts.
References in these terms and conditions to “Hargreaves Lansdown”, “our”, “us” or “we” are to Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management Limited (company number 01896481), authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA Register number 115248), whose registered office is at 1 College Square South, Anchor Road, Bristol, BS1 5HL. References to the “Hargreaves Lansdown Group” are to Hargreaves Lansdown plc (company number 02122142) and its subsidiaries from time to time.

To request more information simply call our Helpdesk on 0117 900 9000 or email helpdesk@hl.co.uk with your full name and address.

Open an HL Stocks and Shares ISA

Once you've decided to invest your ISA allowance, it takes less than five minutes to get started. You'll just need a debit card and your national insurance number to hand. Remember that your investments can go down as well as up in value, so you may get back less than you invest.

Two simple ways to start a Stocks and Shares ISA

Open a new ISA

Get started from as little as £100.

Make a one-off debit card payment and top up whenever you like
Choose from a range of investments when you’re ready
Ideas and support to help you get off to a great start

Set up a Direct Debit

Pay into an ISA from £25 each month.

Invest automatically each month
Start, stop, increase or decrease your Direct Debit whenever you like
Ideas and support to help you get off to a great start

Open an ISA

Want to transfer an existing ISA to us? Just let us know and we’ll take care of the rest. Transfer an ISA to us

Add money to your Stocks and Shares ISA

Add money now

Please read the ISA key features before adding money.

To add money with a debit card online or using the HL app, log in to your account and under 'Actions' choose 'Top up'. Then follow the instructions to enter your debit card details and make your payment.

You can also call us on 0117 980 9950 to add money to your ISA.

Add money now

Set up a Direct Debit from £25 per month

Please read the ISA key features before adding money.

Invest monthly into your choice of funds, FTSE 350 shares, selected investment trusts and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

You can start, stop, increase and decrease your Direct Debit whenever you like. Log in to your account and choose the 'Monthly savings' tab to get started.

Set up a Direct Debit

Why choose HL for your Stocks and Shares ISA?

Security - we're a FTSE 100 company, trusted by over one million clients and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
Ease - check your Stocks and Shares ISA anytime online or with the HL app
Expertise - investment ideas from our expert analysts
Award-winning - we've won over 200 awards, including Best for Digital ISA 2021 from the Boring Money Best Buys Awards, and Best Stocks and Shares ISA Provider 2021 by UK Investor Magazine
UK-based helpdesk - speak to our client support experts if you have any questions

New to investing?

Getting started could be easier than you think. Watch our videos to get to grips with the basics of investing.

Or download a Guide to ISAs to learn more about how investing in ISAs works.

Frequently asked questions

Who can open a Stocks and Shares ISA?
You can open a Stocks and Shares ISA if you’re over the age of 18 and UK resident for tax purposes. You should also be:
- Comfortable choosing your own investments in an ISA
- Confident making long-term investment decisions
- Free from significant debt (other than a mortgage)
- Clear on our charges
Investments fall as well as rise in value, so you could get back less than you put in. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please ask us about financial advice.
Can I pay into more than one Stocks and Shares ISA?

You can’t pay into more than one of the same type of ISA in the same tax year. So you couldn’t, for example, pay into a Stocks and Shares ISA with two different providers in the same tax year.

You can, however, split your ISA allowance between a Stocks and Shares ISA, a Cash ISA, an Innovative Finance ISA and a Lifetime ISA (up to £4,000 per year).

For example, if you wanted to divide your ISA allowance between cash and investments, you could put £15,000 in a Stocks and Shares ISA and the remaining £5,000 in a Cash ISA.

On top of the £20,000 ISA allowance, it’s also possible to pay up to £9,000 into a Junior ISA for a child.
What’s the minimum amount needed to open a Stocks and Shares ISA?
You can open an HL Stocks and Shares ISA with £100 as a lump sum, or by setting up a Direct Debit from £25 per month.
Can I withdraw money from a Stocks and Shares ISA?

Stocks and Shares ISAs are designed for long-term investing – we usually suggest a horizon of at least five years.

But there are times you might want to withdraw money from your ISA, and you can do this at any time. If you’re selling investments first, the trade will need to settle before you can withdraw cash. This usually takes about two working days for shares and four for funds.

With the HL Stocks and Shares ISA, there's no charge for withdrawing money. Though there might be charges for selling some investments, depending on what you hold.

Just remember that if you take money out of your HL Stocks and Shares ISA, you’ll lose that portion of your ISA allowance.

More Stocks and Shares ISA FAQs

Quick easy and efficient service all under one umbrella

MR DUKES, Newcastle

Awards

BEST BUY ISA 2022
Boring Money Best Buys Awards

ISA PROVIDER OF THE YEAR 2021
Money Age Awards

BEST STOCKS AND SHARES ISA PROVIDER 2021
UK Investor Magazine

See all our awards

Help and support

If you have any questions about the HL Stocks and Shares ISA, you can speak to one of our client support experts by calling 0117 900 9000.