HMRC delays publication of latest IFISA statistics
The true size of the Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) market will not be revealed until later this month, as the taxman has pushed back the release of data for the second time amid the pandemic.
HMRC usually releases statistics on ISA subscriptions each April but this was delayed until the end of May and has now been pushed back again until 25 June.
The government department said this would “allow sufficient time for additional quality assurance on these statistics.”
The latest HMRC data released in April 2019 for the 2017/2018 tax year showed there was a total of £290m invested in the IFSA.
Read more: Coming out of its shell! How the IFISA has evolved
The Investing and Saving Alliance has since put this at £711m as of the 2018/2019 tax year and suggested the total value of contributions reached more than £1bn as of February 2020 based on its member subscriptions.
It is unclear which data is being checked but HMRC has previously included footnotes in its ISA report suggesting its IFISA data is unreliable due to not all providers filing their returns in time.
IFISA providers must submit their ISA returns by 6 June following the end of each tax year in April.
But critics argue that the submissions process is not fit for purpose as it is designed for other types of ISAs.