Q: Can a JISA be opened on behalf of a child born between 3 January 2011 and 31 August 2002?
A: Yes, even though most children born between these dates would have a Child Trust Fund (CTF) which would exclude them from JISA eligibility, some children may not have a CTF so Junior ISA (JISA) managers can rely on the declaration made by the registered contact on the JISA application that the child doesn’t have a CTF.
Q: Can a JISA be opened by the child’s foster parents?
A: No, foster parents do not have legal parental responsibility.
Q: Does income from a JISA count towards the parent’s income under the settlements legislation?
A: No, there is a special ISA regulation which excludes JISA income from the settlements legislation so any JISA income is not taxed as the parents’ income.
Q: Can a 16 or 17 year old apply to open a stocks & shares JISA?
A: Yes, the ISA regulations specifically permit any management agreement to have the effect as though the child was 18.
Q: When a child turns 16, are they permitted to subscribe the full annual amount to both a JISA and an adult cash ISA?
A: This is no longer possible. The new age for subscribing to a cash ISA is 18. The ‘transitional arrangements’, ending on 5 April 2026, which permitted 16 and 17 year olds to open a new cash ISA only applied to those children who were aged either 16 or 17 on 5 April 2024 so individuals with JISAs who now turn 16, will not qualify to open and subscribe to a cash ISA.
Q: Can a parent open a JISA for their child if they (the parent) are not resident in the UK for tax purposes?
A: Yes, the UK residency requirement only applies to the child at the point in time that the JISA is opened.
Q: Can a CTF be transferred into a JISA if the child is no longer a UK resident?
A: Yes, the residency requirement only applied at the point that the CTF was opened.
Q: Where a CTF is transferred into a JISA, is it permissible to make subscriptions to both accounts in the same tax year?
A: Yes, no CTF subscriptions need to be passed across to the JISA manager meaning that there could potentially be a full subscription to a CTF (currently £9000) followed by another full subscription to the JISA (currently £9000) after the transfer and in the same tax year.
Q: When a CTF or JISA is transferred to a either a cash or a stocks & shares JISA, does any residual income received by the ceding CTF/JISA manager have to be passed on and accepted by the acquiring JISA manager?
A: Yes, any residual income must be passed on and accepted by the acquiring JISA as the income cannot be paid away to the registered contact/child as this would be classed as a withdrawal which would be in breach of the CTF/ISA regulations
Q: When a CTF matures at age 18, can the Registered Contact (RC) instruct the CTF provider to transfer the matured CTF to an ISA (cash, stocks & shares or innovative) within another ISA manager?
A: No. An instruction can only be accepted from the account holder (the child as was) and the matured CTF can be transferred to any ISA type with any other ISA manager or the CTF provider themselves if they also offer ISAs.
Q: Where the matured CTF is transferred to an ISA, does the value of the CTF count towards the annual ISA limit (currently £20,000)?
A: No. The amount transferred is irrelevant and does not count towards the annual ISA limit.
Q: Can a matured CTF be transferred to an ISA if the account holder (child as was) is not a UK resident at the time of the transfer?
A: Yes. As the amount transferred is disregarded for purpose of the overall ISA subscription limit and not treated as a new current year ISA subscription, the account holder doesn’t need to be UK resident in order to instruct the transfer.
