New individual savings accounts for children, known as ‘Junior ISAs’, were launched on 1^st November and are now available. The accounts offer parents a tax-free way to save for children who don’t have a Child Trust Fund.

Junior ISAs are long-term tax-free savings accounts for children. Your child can have a Junior ISA if they:

• are under 18
• live in the UK
• do not already have a Child Trust Fund account

Each child can have one cash and one ‘stocks and shares’ Junior ISA at any one time. Anybody can put money into a Junior ISA and the total limit for payments into Junior ISAs is £3,600 in each tax year, and there will be no tax to pay on any interest or gains.

The money in a Junior ISA belongs to the child, but they can’t take the money out until they are 18. They can then decide what they want to do with it, but if the child chooses not to take the money out, the Junior ISA will automatically become an ISA.