Figures checked on 24 September 2026
Bed and ISA is the name for moving an investment you already own into an ISA, which usually can't be done by transferring it in directly. You sell it in your general account, which is a disposal for Capital Gains Tax in that tax year. The cash goes into the ISA, using up that much of the year's subscription limit. Then the ISA buys it back — the repurchase. Many platforms handle the three steps as one instruction.
Each step has a cost: dealing charges on both trades, the spread, stamp duty again when UK shares are bought back, and a currency fee each way on foreign ones. Between the sale and the rebuy you're out of the market — for seconds or days, depending on the platform — and the price can move either way in that gap. HMRC's 30-day rule, which matches a sale against shares bought back within 30 days, doesn't apply to shares bought inside an ISA. In the app, record the sale on the holding and the rebuy as a new buy, then use Split by lot to put the sale in the general account and the rebuy in the ISA.
Costs on both trades, and a gap in between when you hold cash, not the shares.
Educational content only. It is not personal financial advice.