Tax free Cash ISAs will reset on April 6 (Image: Getty)
Cash ISA savers have just weeks left to make the most of their tax-free savings allowance before it resets this April and these are the best accounts to open right now before March begins.
The savings accounts are not subject to tax like normal savings accounts, allowing you to shield money from being liable for tax as long as you stay within the annual £20,000 limit on deposits.
There’s no actual limit on the money you hold in one, as long as you stay within the deposit limit each year. In this way, some savers have hundreds of thousands stashed away in both Cash ISAs and Stocks and Shares ISAs.
But the deposit limit resets on April 6, the start of the new tax year, and if you fail to max out the limit, you lose that £20,000 limit forever and can only add in £20,000 again for the following 12 months, across all your ISAs combined.
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And in April 2027, the Cash ISA limits are being slashed, dropping to £12,000 per year, so the next few weeks and next tax year represent your final two chances to maximise your £20k Cash ISA limits before they’re gone.
Right now, Martin Lewis’ MSE website picks out Trading212 as the top paying Cash ISA for new customers. It offers 4.43%, including 3.6% variable and a 0.83% bonus for one year.
Plum offers 4.42%, made up of 2.54% variable and a one-year 1.88% bonus, while Moneybox is offering 4.39% for a year including a 0.94% one year bonus.
These are all variable, which means the rate can drop. For a fixed rate, which is guaranteed to stay locked in place for a minimum term, MSE picks out Close Brothers as the best option right now. Its one year fix offers 4.08% on deposits of at least £10,000, fixed for one year.
Castle Trust Bank offers 4.06% fixed with a £1,000 minimum deposit, and Zopa offers 4.05% for a year with just a £1 minimum.
For a two year fix, the best is Furness Building Society, offering 4.07%.
Recent government ISA reform announcements mean that from April 2027, the annual Cash ISA limit for savers aged under 65 will fall from £20,000 to £12,000. This makes the 2025/26 and 2026/27 tax years the last chance for most people to take full advantage of the current £20,000 Cash ISA allowance before the new rules come into effect.
All of these ISAs will beat the average savings rates right now.
The average easy access savings rate fell to 2.41% in February, marking the lowest rate since July 2023, when it was also 2.41%.
The average easy access Isa rate fell to 2.58% in February, which was also the lowest since July 2023, when it was 2.54%.
Providers are typically offering 3.76% on one-year fixed-rate Isas, marking the lowest rate since April 2023, when the average rate on a one-year Isa was 3.68%.