SYLVIA MORRIS: Savers need to fill cash Isas while they can - here's where to find the very best rates of up to 4.6pc now before time runs out

Updated: 20:42 EDT, 25 August 2026 Unwelcome tweaks to Isa rules which restrict the amount you can save tax-free are racing towards us.From April, the annual allowance on cash Isas, by far the most popular type of account, will be severely limited from £20,000 to £12,000 for anyone under the age of 65.The total Isa limit across stocks and shares accounts, however, stays at £20,000. This means you need to funnel the remaining £8,000 into a stocks and shares Isa or forego that part of your allowance.That’s bad news for savers who enjoy the comfort of cash.The final details of exactly how these new rules will work will be published ‘in the autumn’ the Treasury says, but industry insiders tell me they expect them as early as next month. That is well before the new Chancellor John Healey’s first Budget on October 28. The changes are a hangover of the tax-grab of previous Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the Autumn Budget 2025.Industry body the Building Societies Association told me last week that the new Chancellor faces the choice of pressing ahead with the proposed, complex changes, or has the opportunity to scrap them altogether. Sadly, I doubt he’ll do away with them as they are a good revenue raiser. From April, the annual allowance on cash Isas, by far the most popular type of account, will be severely limited from £20,000 to £12,000 for anyone under the age of 65 The new Chancellor, John Healey, is unlikely to do away with the Isa changesRegardless, I urge you to make use of as much as you can of this year’s cash Isa allowance before it can be cut.In more bad news for the under-65s, you will no longer be able to transfer Isa money from a stocks and shares Isa into a cash Isa, making financial planning as you approach retirement more complex. It’s there to stop you putting up to £8,000 into a shares Isa then transferring it to a cash version.And don’t think you can leave it in cash in a stocks and shares Isa and earn tax-free interest. The Government will take 22pc of any interest you earn – whatever your age – on cash held in a stocks and shares Isa.In a further blow, research by consumer group Fairer Finance shows Isa platforms will be able to pay little or no interest on cash in their shares Isas. Many pay less than 2pc, while in a cash Isa you can earn upwards of 4pc and it is all tax-free.For the over-65s, the cash Isa allowance remains at £20,000. This higher allowance comes into effect from the start of the tax year in which you turn 65. If your 65th birthday falls, for example, in September 2027, you will have the £20,000 cash Isa limit from April 2027.If you want a top easy-access flexible Isa, the best rate currently is 4.6pc from app-based provider Trading 212. There is no limit to the number of withdrawals you can make but there is a bonus of one percentage point for the first year – so make a diary note to transfer to a better rate in a year’s time.With a flexible Isa you can take money out and replace it in the same tax year without affecting your overall Isa allowance. If it’s not flexible, it means that when you replace the money, it counts towards your annual allowance.On branch-based accounts, Coventry BS pays 4.25pc on its 4 Access Isa – one year. It’s flexible but you are limited to four withdrawals a year.If you want a simple account with no bonus or withdrawal restrictions, Hargreaves Lansdown pays a higher 4.52pc but it is not flexible. Spring pays 4.01pc through its app and is the top rate for a flexible Isa with no bonus or withdrawal restrictions. In terms of fixed-rate Isas, Vida offers 4.7pc on a one-year fix, 4.77pc on two and 4.85pc on five.I do not include accounts with bonuses or withdrawal restrictions in my star buy tables, nor accounts not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to the tune of £120,000.