Money hacks How to make the most of Isas before April's deadline

The maximum you can put away each tax year in any adult Isa is £20,000.

- Hilary Osborne

Check what you've used That does not include interest or other returns earned on your money. It covers all types of Isa you may hold: any cash, stocks and shares, innovative (containing peer-to-peer investments), lifetime or help-to-buy Isas.

Lifetime Isas have a £4,000 annual cap within the £20,000 - if you have used it all, you will have £16,000 left. Help-to-buy Isas are no longer open to new applicants, but you can pay into an existing one until November 2029, and can put in up to £2,400 a year. Junior Isas are available to under-18s and have an annual limit of £9,000.

Look at what you have put in since 6 April 2024. The difference between that and £20,000 is how much you have left to use before the end of 5 April 2025.

This will be easy if you have kept a record of your savings and investments - otherwise you will need to track down the information. Remember, you may not have paperwork for everything as so many providers now promote going paperless, so search your email inbox as well as your filing cabinet.

Fill up an existing Isa... The quickest and easiest way to use more of your allowance is to put money into an existing account - you will not need to provide any ID to the provider. If it is an account you set up in the current tax year, it should be straightforward - unless it is a fixed-rate cash Isa which does not allow extra payments.