The Chancellor said that cash savings remained important but that she was keen to see more people investment in more lucrative products
Cash ISAs are set to be overhauled to encourage savers to put their money in more lucrative investments, Rachel Reeves has confirmed.
The Chancellor said that “reform would be worthwhile” when asked about rumours she is planning to reduce the amount people can put into the tax-free accounts.
She hinted that any changes to the current rules, which allow savers to put up to £20,000 into either a Cash ISA or a Stocks and Shares ISA, would be intended to increase the proportion of people investing in products that show a greater return over time than cash.
But she also suggested that new rules would still allow people to get at least some tax benefit from saving into a bank account rather than shares.
Speaking to the Commons Treasury committee, Reeves said: “I want to say that I do recognise the importance of cash for a lot of people. Already, you can save in a savings account and some of that is tax-free, the interest on that is tax-free, and also we have got the ISA limits.
“But I do want to look at the balance, because I think sometimes it’s a disservice to people saving. If you think about the inflation we’ve experienced over the last few years, you’ve actually seen an erosion in the value of your savings in real terms.”
Asked about the possible timeline, the Chancellor replied: “We don’t want to rush it, because we want to make sure that we understand people’s needs, but I do think that reform would be worthwhile and that’s what we’re looking at at the moment.”
Treasury insiders have said that scrapping Cash ISAs entirely is unlikely, meaning that the new rules are instead set to reduce the amount that you can put into the accounts each year. Existing Cash ISA savings are not expected to be affected.
City investment firms have suggested cutting the maximum savings limit to £4,000, while keeping the Stocks and Shares limit at its current rate of £20,000.
Cash accounts tend to produce a much lower return than shares over time, but are considered less risky and can also be easier to access for those needed to withdraw their money quickly.
A total of 18 million people hold a Cash ISA, according to official data, with nearly eight million people paying into one in 2022-23 – twice as many as who saved their funds in a Stocks and Shares ISA.
At the Treasury committee the Chancellor also ruled out repeating the tax-raising Budget she announced in 2024, saying: “I can assure the committee that I will not need to repeat a Budget on that scale because we have now wiped the slate clean and put the public finances on a firm footing.”
And she hit back at the suggestion that she should raise more money from wealth taxes, pointing out that many of the levies she has already increased – such as inheritance tax and stamp duty – are disproportionately paid by the better-off already.