ISAs when you move abroad: keep it, stop paying in

Your ISA can come with you, in a sense. It stays open, the UK keeps treating it as tax-free, but the pay-in slot is closed until you come home.

The short version

You can keep any ISA you already have after you move abroad, and you can still transfer it between providers [1].
Once you're non-resident, you can't pay in. The exception is Crown employees working overseas (diplomats, the armed forces), and their spouses or civil partners [1][2].
You must tell your ISA provider as soon as you stop being UK resident [1].
The UK doesn't tax ISA income or gains, but your new country probably doesn't care about that. Many tax ISA interest, dividends and gains like any other investment.
When you come back and become UK resident again, you can pay in again, subject to that year's allowance [1]. From 6 April 2027 the cash ISA limit for under-65s falls to £12,000, within the overall £20,000 [3].

What you can and can't do as a non-resident

	While UK resident	Once non-resident
Keep existing ISAs	Yes	Yes [1]
Pay new money in	Yes, up to £20,000 a year in 2026/27 [4]	No, unless you're a Crown employee or their spouse [1][2]
Transfer to another ISA provider	Yes	Yes [1]
UK tax on income and gains inside	None	None
Host country tax	n/a	Depends on the country
Lifetime ISA bonus	Yes, aged 18 to 50	Not on new payments, with narrow exceptions [2]

The year you leave

The ISA residence test follows the Statutory Residence Test. HMRC's guidance to ISA managers says you're either UK resident for a tax year, "regardless of whether split year treatment applies", or non-resident for the whole year [2].

In practice, that means you can still pay in during the tax year you leave, provided you're UK resident for that year, even if split-year treatment applies from your departure date. If you're planning to go in, say, September, it's worth topping up before the removal van turns up rather than after you've landed.

The following tax year is the one where new money stops. Because non-residence covers a whole tax year, there's always at least one gap year with no subscriptions [2].

Tell your provider

GOV.UK says you must tell your provider "as soon as you stop being a UK resident" [1]. Do it properly, in writing, with your new address. If you pay in after becoming non-resident, the provider may have to void those subscriptions and remove the income and growth on them, and for a Lifetime ISA any government bonus for that year may need to go back to HMRC [2].

Some providers go further and close accounts or restrict them for customers in certain countries, often for regulatory reasons. Check the terms before you go. Being forced to sell investments at the wrong moment is a faff you can do without.

Crown employees: the exception

If you work overseas for the Crown, paid out of UK public funds (diplomats, the armed forces and some other public servants), you're treated as meeting the residence rule and can keep paying in. So can your spouse or civil partner [1][2]. HMRC points out that spouses don't necessarily share residence status, so check each of you separately [2].

Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs

Lifetime ISA. Once non-resident, you generally can't pay in, so you can't earn the 25% government bonus on new money. HMRC's guidance only allows narrow exceptions, such as a returned withdrawal after a failed first-home purchase [2]. Withdrawing for anything other than a UK first home or after 60 usually triggers the withdrawal charge, so emigrating isn't by itself a reason to cash out. The first home has to be in the UK, which matters if you're buying abroad.
Junior ISA. The account belongs to the child. The Junior ISA limit is £9,000 for 2026/27 [4]. If your family is moving, ask the provider how the child's residence affects new contributions.

How your new country may tax your ISA

This is the part that surprises people. "Tax-free" is a UK label. Your new country decides how to treat the income and gains inside, and most countries' tax laws say nothing about ISAs at all. That usually means:

interest on a cash ISA is taxed like ordinary bank interest
dividends and fund distributions in a stocks and shares ISA are taxed as foreign investment income
selling investments inside the ISA can be a taxable gain locally
some countries treat UK funds held inside an ISA in a particularly unfriendly way

US citizens are the extreme case. If you or your partner hold a US passport, our sister site ExpatStateside explains why ISAs don't work for Americans.

Before you move, ask a tax adviser who knows both countries how your new country taxes each type of holding. Sometimes it's simpler to hold cash and investments in a local account or a local tax-free wrapper while you're there, and leave the ISA ticking along untouched.

Coming back

Once you're UK resident again, you can pay in again from the start of that tax year. HMRC's guidance says returning investors make a fresh declaration with a permanent UK address. A full new application isn't needed for an existing account, except for a Lifetime ISA [2].

The rules you come back to may look different. From 6 April 2027 [3][5]:

the overall ISA allowance stays at £20,000 a year
under-65s can put no more than £12,000 of that into cash ISAs
over-65s can still use the full £20,000 for cash

You can't carry forward unused allowance from your years abroad. Each tax year's allowance is use it or lose it.

A short checklist

Top up before you go, if you're UK resident for the tax year you leave.
Write to each ISA provider when you become non-resident, with your new address.
Stop any direct debits into the ISA.
Check whether the provider will keep serving customers in your new country.
Find out how your new country taxes ISA interest, dividends and gains, and keep records.
When you come back, make a fresh declaration and start paying in again.

Plenty of people in our community groups for Brits abroad have been through this, often after an awkward letter from a provider.

ISAs when you move abroad: what you can keep and what has to stop