Historical ISA Allowances
The table below shows how the annual allowance for Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) has been increased since they came into existence in April 1999, when they replaced the previous tax-protected schemes called PEPs (for shares) and TESSAs (for cash). We also have a second table further down the page with the annual PEP allowances.
With this data, for simplicity, we’ve ignored a couple of changes to ISAs that have been made over the years:
- Up until April 2005 you could also get a Life Insurance ISA (as well as Share and Cash ISAs) but these didn’t prove to be popular and this type of ISA was scrapped.
- Prior to April 2008 there was also a distinction between Maxi ISAs (which were for shares) and Mini ISAs (which could have been for shares, cash or insurance). Thankfully this idea was ditched in favour of just Share ISAs and Cash ISAs.
For the uninitiated, tax years run from 6 April to 5 April the following year.
Annual ISA allowances
| Tax year | Share ISA/ Total allowance |
Cash ISA | Junior ISA |
Lifetime ISA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999/00 | £7,000 | £3,000 | – | – |
| 2000/01 | £7,000 | £3,000 | – | – |
| 2001/02 | £7,000 | £3,000 | – | – |
| 2002/03 | £7,000 | £3,000 | – | – |
| 2003/04 | £7,000 | £3,000 | – | – |
| 2004/05 | £7,000 | £3,000 | – | – |
| 2005/06 | £7,000 | £3,000 | – | – |
| 2006/07 | £7,000 | £3,000 | – | – |
| 2007/08 | £7,000 | £3,000 | – | – |
| 2008/09 | £7,200 | £3,600 | – | – |
| 2009/10 1 | £7,200 | £3,600 | – | – |
| 2010/11 | £10,200 | £5,100 | – | – |
| 2011/12 | £10,680 | £5,340 | £3,600 | – |
| 2012/13 | £11,280 | £5,640 | £3,600 | – |
| 2013/14 | £11,520 | £5,760 | £3,720 | – |
| 2014/15 2 | £15,000 | £15,000 | £4,000 | – |
| 2015/16 | £15,240 | £15,240 | £4,080 | – |
| 2016/17 | £15,240 | £15,240 | £4,080 | – |
| 2017/18 | £20,000 | £20,000 | £4,128 | £4,000 |
| 2018/19 | £20,000 | £20,000 | £4,260 | £4,000 |
Notes:
1. A higher limit of £10,200 for Share ISAs and £5,100 for Cash ISAs applied for people aged over 50 from 6 October 2009.
2. Lower limits of £11,880 for Share ISAs, £5,940 for Cash ISAs and £3,840 for Junior ISAs applied until 30 June 2014.
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Annual PEP allowances
Personal Equity Plans (PEPs) were introduced in 1987 and ran until April 1999 when they were replaced by ISAs. The allowances for 1987 and 1988 applied to calendar years, with the shift to tax-year allowances beginning from 6 April 1989.
| Calendar year / Tax year |
General PEPs |
Single company PEPs |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | £2,400 | – |
| 1988 | £3,000 | – |
| 1989/90 | £4,800 | – |
| 1990/91 | £6,000 | – |
| 1991/92 | £6,000 | £3,000 |
| 1992/93 | £6,000 | £3,000 |
| 1993/94 | £6,000 | £3,000 |
| 1994/95 | £6,000 | £3,000 |
| 1995/96 | £6,000 | £3,000 |
| 1996/97 | £6,000 | £3,000 |
| 1997/98 | £6,000 | £3,000 |
| 1998/99 | £6,000 | £3,000 |
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