Junior ISA: £9,000 a year tax-free, and the child gets it at 18

A Junior ISA is a children's savings account on which the income is not taxed. The paying-in limit for the 2026 to 2027 tax year is £9,000, the money belongs to the child, and it cannot be taken out before 18.

Who can have a Junior ISA?

A child under 18 who lives in the UK. There is one exception: a child living outside the UK can have one if a parent is a Crown servant — in the armed forces, the diplomatic service or the overseas civil service — and the child depends on that parent for care.

A parent or guardian with parental responsibility opens and manages the account. But they do not own what is in it: the money belongs to the child.

What types are there?

Two. A cash Junior ISA is a savings account where the interest is not taxed. A stocks and shares Junior ISA invests the cash, and capital growth and dividends are not taxed.

A child can have one of either type, or both at the same time.

How much can go in each year?

No more than £9,000 in the tax year running from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. That is a single limit across all of the child's Junior ISAs, not a separate allowance for each type.

There is no fixed split between cash and stocks and shares: whatever goes into one reduces what is left for the other. GOV.UK's own example: £2,000 into a cash Junior ISA leaves £7,000 for a stocks and shares one.

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Who is allowed to pay in?

Anyone. GOV.UK puts it in one line: anyone can pay money into a Junior ISA — grandparents, relatives, family friends. The only constraint is the £9,000 annual limit across all the accounts.

When does the child get the money?

The child can take control of the account at 16, but cannot withdraw the money until they turn 18. Until then the funds are locked. Exceptions are set out separately and cover cases where the child is terminally ill or dies.

What if the child has a Child Trust Fund?

You cannot have a Junior ISA as well as a Child Trust Fund. To move across, ask the Child Trust Fund provider to transfer the fund into a Junior ISA.

This matters for families whose children were born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011: many had such an account opened automatically, and it may be sitting on a markedly worse rate.

What else should you know about transfers?

Money can be moved between a child's Junior ISAs, and between a Child Trust Fund and a Junior ISA — for the second you contact the Junior ISA provider. Money cannot be moved between a Junior ISA and an adult ISA.

One more detail for families who move: if the child goes to live abroad, cash can still be added to an account already open.