(Reuters) – UK finance minister Jeremy Hunt is planning the biggest shake-up to Individual Savings Accounts (ISA) in years in an effort to persuade more people to take advantage of tax-free vehicles to back London-listed companies, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
The country’s Treasury officials have met with investment industry executives in recent weeks to discuss how to simplify the current ISA products and remove barriers to investing in the stock market, the FT report said, citing people briefed on the discussions.
ISAs enable people to hold savings and investments without paying tax on interest or capital gains. These include cash ISAs and stocks and shares ISAs.
According to the FT report one radical option being considered is an additional ISA allowance for investing in UK companies.
Other options being discussed include enabling cash savings and stock market investments to be held within a single ISA, rather than separately as they are now, enabling people to save and invest tax-efficiently, the report said.
The UK’s Treasury did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment on the report.
(Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler)
