ISA's

Introduced in April 1999 ISA's were designed to bring a range of tax free savings vehicles to the public and replaced the two previous schemes known as TESSA's and PEP's.

The main eligibility criteria of ISA's are as follows :

• Applicants must be aged 18 or over and be resident or ordinarily resident in the UK for tax purposes.

• There are contribution limits each year that must not be exceeded.

• It is not possible to open an ISA on behalf of another person.

The government has decided that ISA's will be available until at least 2014 but the maximum contribution to an ISA account can be varied each year (determined normally at budget time).

ISA's can be based on cash deposits and shares so offering a wider range of investments for the public to choose from.

 Taxation

As far as personal taxation is concerned the income produced by an ISA an any capital gains made on the encashment are completely free of personal income tax or capital gains tax. This is the single biggest advantage of ISA investment since the returns in the form of income or capital gain made on all shares, unit trusts or investment trusts outside of an ISA are liable to tax.

An ISA is seen as an excellent way to increase the return made on savings and medium term investment but the choice available is very wide with different companies offering a wide variety of schemes and areas to invest. Picking the right ISA to suit your needs is vital in any investment planning exercise and Taylormade Financial Solutions are able to advise you on all the options available to you, making sure that you are aware of all the options available in this exciting area.

The value of investments can go down as well as up. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.