Junior ISAs Explained
What is a Junior ISA?
A Junior ISA is a tax-free savings account for children under the age of 18.
It replaced the Child Trust Fund (CTF).
Who can open a Junior ISA?
If you are an adult with parental responsibility for a child under the age of 18 who is resident in the UK, you can open a JISA on their behalf. Children aged 16 or 17 can also open a JISA for themselves.
Whoever opens the account will be referred to as the Registered Contact.
Exemptions
Children with Child Trust Funds cannot have a Junior ISA as well. So, if your child was born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011, they may be exempt from opening a Junior ISA account.
You can however, transfer funds from a Child Trust Fund into a Junior ISA.
What is the Junior ISA allowance?
You will receive a new Junior ISA allowance annually to be used each tax year, running from 6 April to 5 April the following year. This is the maximum amount you can save into any Junior ISA account.
For the tax year 2024/2025 the Junior ISA allowance is £9,000.
If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it, as the allowance cannot run into the next tax year. You will receive a new allowance every new tax year and the amount can vary from one year to the next.
Who can contribute to a Junior ISA?
Once the Junior ISA has been opened by someone with parental responsibility, then anyone such as friends or family, can lodge money into the account, provided the total amount deposited for the year does not exceed the Junior ISA annual allowance.
Please note that any subscriptions made to the Junior ISA are gifts to the child and cannot be repaid to the person who made them should they change their mind later.
Types of Junior ISA
There are two types of Junior ISA:
- Cash Junior ISA
- Stocks and Shares Junior ISA
A child can have one Cash Junior ISA and one Stocks and Shares Junior ISA. You can subscribe to both types provided the total subscriptions do not exceed the Junior ISA allowance.
At Progressive, we offer the Cash Junior ISA only.
How does a Junior ISA work?
Junior ISAs are long-term savings accounts.
It’s important to know that funds cannot be accessed until your child turns 18, unless there are extreme circumstances such as death or a terminal illness.
When your child turns 16, they can take over the management of their Junior ISA if they wish. They can also pay into an adult Cash ISA up to the maximum annual ISA allowance without affecting their Junior ISA allowance.
When your child turns 18, their Junior ISA will become an adult ISA and they will be able to access their savings.
It’s a great way to give them a financial stepping-stone into adult life.
Transferring a Junior ISA
Did you know you can transfer your child’s Junior ISA from one provider to another at any time?
You can also switch funds from one type of Junior ISA to another, for example, from a Cash Junior ISA to a Stocks and Shares Junior ISA.
At Progressive we can only accept the transfer of your Cash Junior ISA with another Junior ISA provider.
For further information please contact your local branch.
Why save with Progressive?
For over 100 years, we’ve been helping people in Northern Ireland save for the important things in their lives. We’re a building society, made up of local Members helping local people, always with your best interests at heart.
We support people all over Northern Ireland saving for their future.
We have knowledgeable staff in each of our 11 branches, so you can pop in and talk to us face to face about finding the right savings account for you.
Simply bring some photographic ID e.g. a current passport or driving licence, along with you and we’ll have you up, running and saving in no time. For further information on photographic ID required view the Proving your Identity leaflet here.
For further information, simply contact your local branch and we’ll be more than happy to help you.
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