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How can I check how much of my ISA allowance I have used?

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UKPublished 6 October 2026 · Written by BuyMeWhiskey Editorial Team · How we check facts

For 2026/27, the overall ISA subscription limit is £20,000. HMRC receives subscription data from ISA managers, but there is no simple public live total across all providers, so check each provider and keep your own running total.

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Checking before you pay in? Use HMRC’s ISA guidance and compare it with your own provider statements and transaction history.

Check ISA rules on GOV.UK

Run your own numbers: UK take-home pay calculator 2026/27.

The £20,000 ISA limit in 2026/27

The overall ISA subscription limit for the 2026/27 tax year is £20,000. You can split that overall amount between eligible ISA types, subject to the separate Lifetime ISA limit. The key word is subscription: money paid into an ISA counts, while market growth or interest earned inside the ISA does not use up your annual subscription limit.

There is no easy live total across all your providers

HMRC now receives ISA subscription information from managers, including current-year subscription reporting. That improves HMRC's ability to spot errors, but it is different from giving you a consumer-facing running allowance meter. The GOV.UK Personal Tax Account lists services such as Income Tax, Self Assessment and State Pension checks, but it does not promise a live cross-provider ISA subscription total.

For that reason, do not assume a bank or investment app can tell you how much of the whole £20,000 you have left if you also use other providers.

Check every ISA you used this tax year

Make a list of every ISA account into which you have paid new money since 6 April 2026. Look at transaction history, not just the balance. Add the subscriptions across providers and types, excluding genuine ISA transfers carried out under ISA transfer rules.

Check cash ISA payments.
Check stocks and shares ISA payments or dealing-account transfers treated as subscriptions.
Check Lifetime ISA payments separately because its own £4,000 subscription limit forms part of the overall allowance.
Check whether your ISA is flexible before treating a withdrawal as restoring allowance.

Withdrawals can be the tricky part

A withdrawal does not automatically give the money back to you as available allowance. GOV.UK says a flexible ISA can let you withdraw money and replace it in the same tax year without reducing your current-year allowance, but a non-flexible ISA does not. The provider can tell you whether the ISA is flexible.

Transfers are also different from ordinary withdrawals. Moving an ISA to another provider should normally be done using the provider's ISA transfer process; withdrawing the cash yourself and paying it into a new ISA can use up the current year's allowance.

What changes from 6 April 2027?

The overall ISA limit remains £20,000, but a new cash ISA sub-limit starts on 6 April 2027. For investors under 65, the annual cash ISA subscription limit will be £12,000 within the overall £20,000 limit. Investors aged 65 or over will retain a £20,000 cash ISA limit. Those changes are not the rule for the 2026/27 tax year.

What to do if you think you have gone over

Stop making new ISA subscriptions until you have reconciled the figures. Contact the relevant provider rather than trying to fix an oversubscription by moving money around yourself. Keep statements and transaction records showing the dates and amounts paid in.

HMRC's ISA manager rules require providers to operate systems that prevent or identify oversubscriptions, and current digital reporting is increasing the information HMRC receives. If you cannot reconcile the position, use the official HMRC ISA guidance and contact HMRC or the provider.

Keep your own ISA subscription record

A simple personal record is still the safest way to monitor your allowance. List the date, ISA provider, ISA type and amount for every new subscription during the tax year. Keep withdrawals on a separate line so you do not accidentally treat money moving out of an ISA as a new subscription. Your statement history is especially useful when you have more than one provider.

Also distinguish between subscriptions and money already inside an ISA. Interest, dividends and investment growth generated within the ISA do not themselves use a new part of the annual subscription allowance. The allowance concerns new money subscribed during the tax year, subject to the particular ISA rules that apply.

When it is worth contacting HMRC

If you think your tax records contain an error, or you need help with interest outside an ISA, use your Personal Tax Account or HMRC's published contact routes. Give HMRC the dates and amounts shown by your bank or building society. For an ISA allowance question, however, the ISA manager's subscription record is often the most useful first check because the provider knows exactly what it has recorded as a subscription.

Worked example

Illustrative example. During 2026/27, you subscribe £8,000 to a cash ISA and £4,000 to a stocks and shares ISA. Total subscriptions are £8,000 + £4,000 = £12,000, so £20,000 - £12,000 = £8,000 remains from the overall annual limit. Later you withdraw £3,000 from the cash ISA. If the ISA is flexible, the provider may allow the withdrawn amount to be replaced without using additional current-year allowance, subject to the flexible ISA rules. The important point is that the withdrawal itself does not create a fresh £3,000 annual allowance. Keep the provider records showing both the original subscription and the withdrawal so you can reconcile your own running total.' This keeps the example focused on allowance usage rather than tax on investment returns and not on market growth.

Can HMRC tell me how much of my ISA allowance I have used?#

HMRC receives ISA subscription information from ISA managers, but its published Personal Tax Account service does not list a simple live cross-provider ISA allowance meter. Treat provider records and your own running total as the practical check, especially if you use more than one ISA manager.

Can I have more than one ISA in 2026/27?#

Yes. The £20,000 limit is an overall subscription limit, not a rule that says you may only hold one ISA. What matters is the amount of new money subscribed across your ISAs during the tax year, plus any separate limits such as the Lifetime ISA limit.

Do ISA withdrawals count as using my allowance again?#

A withdrawal itself does not use allowance. However, replacing withdrawn money can count as a new subscription unless the ISA is flexible and you meet the flexible-ISA rules. Check with the provider before assuming you can put the money back without using allowance.

Does ISA interest count towards the £20,000 limit?#

No. Interest, dividends and investment growth arising inside the ISA do not count as new ISA subscriptions. The £20,000 figure is about money subscribed to ISAs during the tax year, not the size of the account after it has grown.

What if I paid into two cash ISAs by mistake?#

Two cash ISAs can be held, but all new subscriptions still sit inside the overall annual limit. Stop further payments while you reconcile the amounts. Keep both providers informed and use the ISA transfer process where appropriate rather than withdrawing money and re-depositing it blindly.

What is the ISA allowance for 2027/28?#

The overall annual ISA limit remains £20,000. From 6 April 2027, however, a £12,000 cash ISA sub-limit applies to investors under 65, while investors aged 65 or over keep a £20,000 cash ISA limit. That is a rule for the next tax year, not 2026/27.

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Sources

Figures were checked against these sources before publication. If a rule changes, we update the page and show the new date.

General information, not personal financial advice. Rules depend on your circumstances; check the official source or speak to a regulated adviser before acting.