ISA Deadline April 5: Everything You Need to Do Before Midnight

The 2025/26 ISA allowance is £20,000. It does not roll over. On April 6, the clock resets and this year's allowance disappears regardless of whether you used £1 or nothing. If you haven't opened or topped up your ISA yet, here is exactly what to do before midnight on April 5.

Log into your ISA provider and check how much you've contributed this tax year. If you've contributed nothing, your full £20,000 allowance is available. If you've contributed some, subtract that from £20,000 to find your remaining allowance. You can contribute to one Cash ISA, one Stocks and Shares ISA, one Innovative Finance ISA, and one Lifetime ISA in a single tax year — as long as the total doesn't exceed £20,000.

You don't need to fill the entire £20,000. Even £50 into a Cash ISA before April 5 means £50 of interest earned tax-free forever. The point isn't perfection — it's not wasting your allowance entirely. If you have any spare cash (emergency fund overage, savings sitting in a current account, a bonus that just landed), now is the time to move it.

Many ISA providers allow same-day account opening online. MoneyBox, Trading 212, and Chip all let you open and fund a Cash ISA within minutes. You do not need to do extensive research before April 5 — open with a reputable provider today, deposit what you can, and optimise later. A suboptimal ISA is infinitely better than a wasted allowance.

On April 6, the new tax year begins and your ISA allowance resets to £20,000 again. Any money already inside your ISA from previous years stays protected and continues growing tax-free. There is no expiry on money inside an ISA — only on the annual contribution allowance. Maximising year after year is how ISA millionaires are made.