Government unveils junior Isa plan
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Source: John Thompson/Mousetrap Media
The Government has confirmed plans to introduce a tax free savings account to replace Child Trust funds.
The junior Isa is set to have similar restriction to CTF’s but will not have the government contributions.
The Government says it will work closely with stakeholders to formulate the structure of the accounts, which are set to be available by the autumn of 2011.
Funds will be placed in an account which will remain locked until the child reaches adulthood. As with traditional Isas, annual contributions will be capped.
In May 2010, the Government announced it would reduce and then stop CTFs as part of plans to save £6.2bn in 2010-11. Before this parents received a minimum £250 voucher for newborns, which they had access to from the age of 18. A further payment was made at the age of seven.
These payments were reduced in August and entirely from January 2011. This will save the Government £320m this year and £500m in future years.
Treasury financial secretary Mark Hoban says: “I am committed to ensuring that all parents can save for their children’s future in a simple and straightforward account. The introduction of this new account means that we can still offer people a clear way of saving for their children, while saving the half billion pounds a year that we currently spend on Child Trust Funds”.
TISA head of member services Carol Knight says: “We fully support this announcement. Following the decision that children born after the end of this year will not qualify for a Child Trust Fund there has been a real need for a scheme that is attractive to the consumer, is simple, provides choice, flexibility and variety and that is built on a brand they can trust.
“There is an increasing awareness of the need to take personal responsibility for the future whether it be retirement, higher education or housing. Many parents even now are making financial sacrifices to help children through university or onto the housing ladder so this new savings scheme will play an essential role by providing a vehicle which the public feels comfortable with and will help families make provision for the future.”
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Readers' comments (13)
Tom Scott | 27 Oct 2010 9:18 am
I can't understand why you wouldn't just change the CTF rules and leave everything else in place.
What a waste of time and money.
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Anonymous | 27 Oct 2010 9:23 am
..because CTFs were a labout invention and for some reason you can't be seen to be condoning anything the other lot did.
See also PEPs being replaced by ISAs (for political balance)
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John N Crisp | 27 Oct 2010 9:32 am
Come on Tom, this Government we are dealing with here, Common sense does not even enter the equation
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angela proctor | 27 Oct 2010 9:34 am
I don't think many providers will offer this new product especially not those affected by the abolition of CTF. It cost the providers thousands to create the CTF and so I am sure they will be wary about investing into this new scheme. Also with the restrictions on cost will there actually be any profit or are the government relying on the providers to do this for free!!
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Danny Lovey | 27 Oct 2010 9:44 am
This is a useful savings tool for parents to invest for a child's future. It is a type of 'bareTrust' that will be simple and easy to manage and outside any potential liability for capital gains in the fute
Don't knock it you cynics!
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Rod Leonard | 27 Oct 2010 10:02 am
why do we need TF savings when 94% of the population do not use their CGT allowance (including Kids) PEPS used to be able to reclaim witholding tax on dividends but no longer can. So what is the point of investing in something that you cannot hold jointly, cannot put under trust and has restriction, other than for cash but the tax savings on 2/3% is minimal.
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Patrick Schan | 27 Oct 2010 10:36 am
Mr Hoban has to make it look (to the public) like he is doing something positive while he is overseeing the negatives that will come from the implementation of the RDR.
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David Bowers | 27 Oct 2010 11:07 am
This is similar to the Labour Government's scrapping of PEPs - which were perfectly good products and which were by 1999 starting to become the savings product of choice for much of middle England - and replacing them with their own concept, ISAs. Apart from the introduction of the cash element, and the ludicrous insurance allowance, the only difference was that the ISA was a labour device to replace the "Conservative" PEP.
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Simon Mansell | 27 Oct 2010 11:45 am
An ISA is not tax free as you are unable to reclaim the dividend tax credit! A child has their own tax allowance in any case.
Maybe Mark Hoban MP needs to requalify?
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Anonymous | 27 Oct 2010 12:04 pm
Savings accounts for children are tax free anyway????!!!
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