How do I transfer shares from my IG share dealing account to my IG ISA? (Bed and ISA)

HMRC do not allow the direct movement of shares into an ISA from a non-ISA account. Your shares would first need to be sold and the cash transferred to the ISA before they can be repurchased. However, this process takes 2 to 3 working days for funds to settle, during which the prices of your shares can change, and you may have to purchase the shares at a higher price than what you sold them for.

To mitigate any potential negative impact of waiting 2 to 3 working days for settlement of funds, we offer a service called ‘bed and ISA’. This allows for shares to be repurchased immediately, and any future gains generated by your assets would then be protected from capital gains tax by the ISA’s tax-efficient wrapper.

Any profit made from this sale of shares will still be subject to capital gains tax,* and the cash balance transferred will be deducted from your annual ISA allowance.

*Tax laws are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Tax law may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.

Am I eligible for a bed and ISA transfer?

To be eligible, the following conditions must be met.

Share eligibility

Bed and ISA transactions at IG can only be performed on UK-listed shares. This is due to IG’s Market Maker arrangement. Eligible shares must meet all three of the following criteria:

Trade in London
Be listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) or Aquis Exchange
Be ISA-eligible

ISA account status

Your IG ISA account must be active before a bed and ISA transfer can be processed. If your ISA account is not yet open or is inactive, please resolve this before submitting your request.

What are the costs?

The following costs apply per line of stock. You will be made aware of all applicable costs before your transfer is processed:

£40.00 – dealing fee on the sale of shares
£30.00 – capped spread per line of stock
0.5% stamp duty – on the repurchase within your ISA, if applicable
£1.00 PTM levy – if the total transfer value exceeds £10,000

Please note: There is no dealing fee on the repurchase. All fees above apply per share line.

How do I cover the fees?

Fees cannot be taken from your ISA account under any circumstances. You must choose one of the following two methods to cover the cost:

Using the cash balance in your Share Dealing account
Covering fees via the sale of shares from your Share Dealing account

Please note: Fee splitting is not permitted. You must select one method only. No other fee coverage options are available.

What is the spread risk?

When selling and rebuying shares, there is a risk of price movement while you are out of the market. This can result in a difference between your sell and buy price, which may mean buying back fewer shares than you originally held. By using the bed and ISA process, the spread risk is capped at £30 per line of stock.

How do I arrange a bed and ISA transfer?

Send an email to helpdesk.uk@ig.com from your registered email address with the subject line Bed and ISA Transfer Request.

Important: Requests submitted without the correct subject line, or with any of the required details missing, will experience a delay in processing and may be held until the missing information is received.

Your email must include all of the following details:

Share Dealing Account ID – your five-character IG account ID
ISA Account ID – your five-character IG ISA account ID
Name of the share to be transferred
Transfer amount – specify either the value in GBP or the number of shares
Fee coverage method – state clearly how you will cover the fees:
- Share Dealing account cash balance
- Sale of shares (no other options are accepted)

Email Format

Please use the format below when submitting your request. Requests that follow this format are processed faster and with fewer delays.

How long will my transfer take?

Bed and ISA requests are processed in batches twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is due to the nature of the process, which involves coordinating with a market maker and cannot be completed on demand.

Please allow up to a few working days for your transfer to be processed, depending on when your request is submitted:

Requests submitted by end of Monday will typically be included in the Tuesday batch
Requests submitted on Wednesday will typically be included in the Thursday batch

Please note: Each batch takes several hours to process. Your transfer will be completed within the batch window on the relevant day. Incomplete submissions will be held until the missing information is received, which may push your request to the next available batch. To avoid any delay, please ensure all required details are provided when you first get in touch.