What is Bed & ISA and should I use it?
Bed & ISA lets you sell investments in a taxable account and immediately buy them back inside your Stocks & Shares ISA (using your £20,000 allowance). It shelters future growth and income from tax permanently, with no 30-day waiting rule.
Why it matters more than ever
Since 2023, the annual CGT allowance has been cut from £12,300 to £3,000. CGT rates rose in October 2024 to 18% (basic rate) and 24% (higher rate). Every pound of growth sitting in a general account outside an ISA is future CGT liability accumulating in real time.
How it works in practice
- Identify investments in your general account with gains within or close to your £3,000 CGT allowance
- Sell them — this crystallises the gain, but within the allowance there is no tax charge
- Immediately repurchase the same investments inside your ISA
- All future growth is permanently sheltered from CGT
The 30-day rule does not apply when repurchasing inside an ISA — you can sell and rebuy the same day.
Key takeaway: Bed & ISA is one of the simplest and most effective ways to move assets into tax-free status each year.
Arken identifies the best candidates for Bed & ISA, calculates the potential tax saving, and models the multi-year sequencing to shelter as much as possible within your annual allowance.
