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The Help to Buy ISA deadline is looming

Posted on: 2nd Oct 2019 by: CamOuse Financial Management Limited

After 30th November 2019, potential first-time buyers will no longer be able to apply for a new Help to Buy ISA.   

Savers who already have an account will be able to keep saving into it until 30th November 2029, regardless of when the ISA was opened, but accounts will close to additional contributions after that date. 

What is the Help to Buy ISA?   

The Help to Buy ISA was introduced to help first-time buyers over the age of 16. Individuals receive a bonus of 25% of their savings when it comes to purchasing a property, up to a value of £3,000. They can put £1,200 into the ISA in the first month, while subsequent payments are limited to £200 a month. The final criteria is that the property purchase cannot exceed £250,000 (£450,000 for London) if the buyer wants to receive the 25% boost. 

How does the Lifetime ISA differ?

The Help to Buy ISA is not the only option available. The Lifetime ISA is designed to help people aged between 18 and 40 to save towards their first home or for later life. The Government will again give a bonus worth 25% of what is paid in, up to a maximum of £4,000 per year. Savers can then receive a maximum of £1,000 per year as a government bonus. This can be used to buy a home worth up to £450,000 anywhere in the country. 

Both ISAs can be helpful when it comes to saving for a first-time property purchase, although there are some marked differences between the two. 

The Lifetime ISA rules mean that savers have to wait at least a year before they can use it to buy a home. With the Help to Buy ISA, individuals have to have saved £1,600 before they can claim the minimum government bonus of £400 but this can be done over a period of three months: £1,200 in the first month followed by two subsequent deposits of £200 in the next two months. 

It is possible to spread deposits across multiple ISAs. However, the maximum that can currently be saved in ISAs is £20,000 for the 2019-2020 tax year. 

Helping your children get their first house 

Given the struggles the younger generation face to get on the property ladder today, you may be wondering the best way to give financial support. If you’re considering giving your child enough money for a deposit, there are no immediate tax implications. You can give as much money as you like to your children tax free, but if you were to pass away within seven years of the gift, they could be faced with an inheritance tax bill if your estate was worth more than £325,000. You can gift up to £3,000 a year without paying inheritance tax.            

If your children or grandchildren are interested in taking out a Help to Buy ISA, encourage them to do so as soon as possible before time runs out. If you would like to know more about the options around gifting money to your children to help with a deposit on a house, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Tags: Investment, ISA,


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    Lee Pooley

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    Lee Pooley

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    Lee Pooley

  • We paid a small fee to Camouse for whole of market mortgage broker services. As first time buyers, Lee and Eve were able to guide us through the process, find us a deal and sort out the applications in a really helpful friendly and efficient way. We were very satisfied and would recommend CamOuse to others for this service.

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    Lee Pooley

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  • Jo has been extremely helpful and very patient and I will be recommending her highly to other family and friends of mine. I do sincerely appreciate the way Jo handled my issues and also the excellent and very professional way she conducted business. She is an absolute asset to CamOuse.

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    Jo Kurz

  • CamOuse have been our go-to financial advisers since 2008 and have assisted with numerous mortgages, remortgages, insurances, and general financial advice. Lee Pooley and Eve Nowakowska have been invaluable during this time. We've built up an excellent relationship with both and trust them completely to do what's in our best interests. Both are an absolute pleasure to work with and I cannot recommend them, and by extension CamOuse, enough!

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    Lee Pooley

  • We used the services of CamOuse to help in buying our first home and setting up our mortgage and we were extremely happy with all the advice and help we got. We spoke to Lee mostly, who was really great! Very insightful, very friendly and helpful, very patient and all-round great service. Would happily seek their help again. Many thanks Lee!

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    Lee Pooley

  • Thank you to Matthew and Julie for making a huge difference in my life when I thought I was so stuck and felt there was never going to be a way to move forward.

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    Matthew Theobald


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Understanding the true cost to your business

Pension arrangements must be available for all employees. There are three categories of employee:

Eligible

Aged between 22 and State Pension Age (SPA) with qualifying earnings over the Auto Enrolment earnings trigger

Non-eligible

Aged between 16 – 74 with qualifying earnings between lower threshold and the Auto Enrolment earnings trigger
 
Aged between 16 -21 or SPA – 74 with qualifying earnings over Auto Enrolment earnings threshold

Entitled

Aged between 16 -74 with earnings below the qualifying earnings lower threshold

Important Notes

  1. Eligible jobholders must be auto-enrolled
  2. Non-eligible jobholders are allowed to be auto-enrolled if they want to
  3. Entitled workers are entitled to join a pension scheme, but the employer doesn't have to contribute

Qualifying Earnings lower threshold

£5,772

Qualifying Earnings upper threshold

£41,865

Automatic Enrolment earnings trigger

£10,000

Minimum contribution level options:

8% of Qualifying Earnings of which

3% is employer's (starting at 1%)

9% of Basic Salary of which

4% is employer's (starting at 2%)

8% of Basic Salary of which

3% is employer's (starting at 1%)

(Where basic salary is at least 85% of total earnings)

7% of gross earnings of which

3% is employer's (starting at 1%)

Pay reference period

Essentially the frequency that the jobholder is paid e.g. monthly, weekly etc. but with reference to the tax month, week etc. therefore it may not be the same as the payroll period.

Deduction and payment of contributions

It is the employer who is responsible to calculate, deduct and pay all contributions to the AE scheme. NOTE – the first and last contributions are likely to be for less than a full pay reference period and should be adjusted accordingly.

Payroll services

It can be seen that it is very important that the payroll system synchronises with the AE scheme otherwise the employer will not be carrying out all requirements and then penalties will be incurred.

Staging date

Based on the employer’s payroll size as at 1 April 2012 and can be found at www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/employers using your PAYE reference. The Qualifying Workplace Pension Scheme must be registered with The Pensions Regulator within 4 months of the staging date.

Compliance and communication

Postponement

Auto-Enrolment can be postponed for up to 3 months:

  • For current eligible employees
  • For workers that meet the criteria in the future for the first time e.g. avoid joining temporary or lower paid workers

Opt-Outs

All eligible employees must be auto-enrolled, but can, with the correct notification, opt-out within one month of joining the scheme and be treated as never having joined. They can opt back in and will automatically be auto-enrolled every 3 years in any case!

Communication

There is a wide range of information that must be provided to all employees at certain times, such as:

  • The date auto-enrolment took place for eligible jobholders
  • That non-eligible jobholders have the statutory right to opt in
  • Entitled workers have the right to request the employer to enrol them into a pension scheme

Salary sacrifice

Contributions can be paid by effectively reducing salary, which saves on NI contributions, but employee must choose to do this – they cannot be forced, so a contractual variation will need to be implemented.

Default investment fund

Investment Options

All eligible employees will be automatically invested into a default investment fund, which is a balanced risk fund that is “life styled” to account for the employees approach to retirement. They also have the option to invest in a wide range of funds of their choosing.