Your ISA allowance is the total amount of money you can save in an ISA in the current tax year. An ISA is an Individual Savings Account which protects your savings in a tax-free wrapper, so you will never pay any tax on the interest you earn. The government decides each tax year how much can be saved in an ISA – this is known as the ISA Allowance or Maximum Annual Subscription Allowance and for tax year 2020/2021 (which runs from 6th April 2020 – 5th April 2021) it is $20,000.
You cannot fund more than one Cash ISA in the same tax year. If you have already opened a Cash ISA in this tax year with another provider, then you cannot open and fund a new Cash ISA with Republic Trust Bank unless:
However, please be aware you can hold a Stocks and Shares ISA as well as a Cash ISA in the same tax year and split your total annual ISA allowance across both up to a combined limit of $20,000 in the 2020/2021 tax year. This means if you currently hold a stocks and shares ISA in this tax year, but do not hold a Cash ISA, you can open and fund a Republic Trust Bank Cash ISA.
We monitor the total level of deposits made during any tax year and if we receive a payment that takes your account above the maximum annual ISA allowance, we will return the whole amount of that individual payment. To review your level of remaining subscription allowance for your current tax year simply log on to your eSavings account and review your Account Information - note this will only appear when there are funds in your ISA.
The ISA allowance for the 2020/21 tax year is $20,000. This means you can save $20,000 of new money into your ISA in this tax year. Our Cash ISA maximum balance is $250,000 so you can transfer other ISA balances into your new Republic Trust Bank ISA up to $250,000. If these balances are from previous tax years, they do not count towards the $20,000 limit in the current tax year 2020/2021.
You do not need to deposit the minimum balance of $1,000 to open your ISA account. However, if you deposit less than $1,000 in your Easy Access ISA you will receive 0.25% Gross/AER (Variable/Tax Free).
You can continue to fund your ISA as long as it remains open to funding and you have remaining ISA allowance for this tax year.
All our Cash ISAs allow withdrawals; however Fixed Cash ISAs are subject to an interest fee for any withdrawals made. Please see your Key Product Information document for more details as the fee varies based on length product term. You can withdraw from our Easy Access Cash ISA without receiving a fee.
Please note that if you simply withdraw from your existing Cash ISA and deposit into your new Republic Trust Bank Cash ISA you will lose your tax benefits and the value you have withdrawn from your ISA allowance.
All electronic and non-electronic transfers for Cash ISAs will be completed within 15 business days. Any transfers from a Stocks and Shares ISA will be completed in 30 business days. If your transfer is referred or delayed this process may take longer.
Once you have applied and opened your Republic Trust Bank Cash ISA, you will need to log into your account and in your eDocuments please view our letter titled ‘ISA Etransfer In’ as this will advise whether your transfer has proceeded as an electronic or postal transfer. Electronic transfers are the default and straight-forward way to transfer your ISA. However, some providers are not compatible with electronic transfers and by exception we may need to transfer by post.
We do not collect the funds for your ISA from your nominated bank account. You need to send Republic Trust Bank the money you want to deposit from your nominated bank account to your Republic Trust Bank ISA. You can do this by electronic payment or by sending a cheque in the post.
Please be aware if you send an electronic payment the funds will be credited to your account the same working day, if sent prior to 3.30pm. If you make a payment after 3.30pm or on a weekend or bank holiday, the funds will credit your account the following working day.