The end of the tax year is looming, and it’s time to consider which tax benefits may be available for your savings.

The Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) allows you to earn tax-free returns by lending through peer-to-peer lending platforms such as LandlordInvest.

You may currently invest a total of £20,000 per tax year across a combination of a Cash ISA, Stocks & Shares ISA, Lifetime ISA, and Innovative Finance ISA.

Did you know? You don’t need to invest yet to protect this year’s tax free allowance!

As long as you deposit or Transfer In to your IFISA by 5 April 2021, the tax-free status your money is protected. So you can deposit in this tax year, and choose your investments in the next tax year.

Plus, LandlordInvest’s IFISA is flexible, meaning you can deposit or Transfer In by 5 April 2021 to protect your tax-free allowance, and then withdraw from the IFISA from 6 April 2021 if you need access to your money. Any withdrawal you replace within the tax year will not affect your annual allowance.

Read more here: IFISA FAQ - Is your ISA flexible?

Neither Income Tax nor Capital Gains Tax are due on ISA earnings on these accounts and you don’t need to declare your earnings as part of your self-assessment tax return.

LandlordInvest, being fully FCA authorised, was one of the first platforms that offered a residential property-backed IFISA.

5 benefits of the LandlordInvest IFISA

• Investments made through the LandlordInvest IFISA offer a fixed return rate and are less vulnerable to stock market fluctuations than the Stocks & Shares ISA. Cash ISAs currently offer returns of around 1.0% per annum, whilst the LandlordInvest IFISA may offer returns of up to 12% per annum. Although keep in mind that higher returns also means higher risk*.
• Your IFISA can benefit from tax-free compound interest as earnings don’t count towards the annual ISA allowance. Furthermore, LandlordInvest doesn’t charge a fee to invest or to withdraw your money.
• LandlordInvest loans are secured by British property, lenders can choose which loans they invest in, and receive monthly interest payments.
• LandlordInvest operates an active secondary market that allows lenders to offer all or part of their investments to other lenders who may wish to purchase them. This offers a great potential for lenders to access capital before loan maturity**.
• LandlordInvest accepts a Transfer In from your existing ISA(s) allowing you to move previous savings into the IFISA whilst protecting they tax-free status of your money.

IFISA FAQ - How do I transfer my Cash ISA or Stocks & Shares ISA?

* Your capital is at risk. Not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Please see our Risk Warnings.

** However, please keep in mind that only certain loan or loan parts may be made available for sale and that there is no guarantee that there will be a buyer for a listed loan or loan part.'

How do I start a LandlordInvest IFISA?

• Sign up to our online investing platform, verify your account and activate your IFISA
• Either deposit or Transfer In from an existing ISA

What is a Transfer In?

When you have money saved in an existing tax-free wrapper, you shouldn’t withdraw the money and deposit it in a new ISA. To protect its tax-free status, you must transfer from the old ISA provider to the new one. This is a simple administrative process, you submit a Transfer In form to LandlordInvest, and we will contact your current ISA provider and fulfil the process for you

Read more: IFISA FAQ - How do I transfer my Cash ISA or Stocks & Shares ISA?

Our blogs are for information purposes only. This content is not financial, legal or tax advice. Should you require any advice in relation to the earnings you make from LandlordInvest we recommend seeking independent professional advice. Links to other sites are provided for your convenience but LandlordInvest accepts no responsibility or liability for the content of those sites or of any external site. The information in this blog is correct at the time of posting.