ISA amendment regulations laid before the House of Commons

The Individual Savings Account (Amendment) Regulations 2026 were laid before the House of Commons on 10th March 2026, having been made on 9th March 2026, and come into force on 6th April 2026¹. The instrument amends the Individual Savings Account Regulations 1998 and was made by the Treasury under powers in the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 and the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005¹. It was signed by Gen Kitchen and Taiwo Owatemi, two of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury¹.

The regulations move long-term asset funds into stocks and shares accounts and out of innovative finance accounts. A new paragraph (2)(s) of regulation 7 makes investments in a long-term asset fund qualifying investments for a stocks and shares component, while regulation 8A(2)(cc), which allowed them under an innovative finance account, is omitted¹. Funds held under an innovative finance account immediately before 6th April 2026 are treated, for as long as they are so held, as qualifying investments for a stocks and shares component held under a stocks and shares account¹.

For UK cryptoasset exchange traded notes, the regulations define the term as a debt security traded on a trading venue or a market operated by a United Kingdom recognised investment exchange, featuring no periodic coupon payments, and whose return tracks the performance of an unregulated transferable cryptoasset minus applicable fees, whether featuring delta 1, inverse or leveraged exposure or other exposure to the asset tracked¹. The expressions "debt security", "trading venue", "recognised investment exchange" and "unregulated transferable cryptoasset" take the meanings given in the Glossary of the Financial Conduct Authority Handbook as in effect on 8th October 2025¹.

A UK cryptoasset exchange traded note is not a qualifying security for the purposes of paragraph (2)(b), so it cannot be held under a stocks and shares account unless it was already held in one immediately before 6th April 2026¹. Notes already held in a stocks and shares account immediately before that date are treated, for as long as they are so held, as qualifying investments for a stocks and shares component¹. Investments in a UK cryptoasset exchange traded note are added to the list of qualifying investments for an innovative finance component¹.

The Explanatory Note sets out the changes as follows:

Why it matters for households

The regulations change what an ISA may hold from 6th April 2026, which is the start of the tax year. Holders of long-term asset funds inside an innovative finance account keep the investments where they are, treated as stocks and shares component holdings for as long as they remain held¹. The same protection applies to UK cryptoasset exchange traded notes already held in a stocks and shares account immediately before 6th April 2026¹. New holdings of such notes cannot go into a stocks and shares account from that date, but can be held under an innovative finance account¹. The regulations also amend the information account managers must return under regulation 31 to cover the new categories¹.

What happens next

The regulations come into force on 6th April 2026¹. A Tax Information and Impact Note covering the instrument will be published on the government's Tax Information and Impact Notes collection, according to the Explanatory Note¹. No further dates have been reported.