Maxed Your ISA? A UK Guide to General Investment Accounts

A General Investment Account (GIA) is an unwrapped brokerage account with no contribution limits but no tax shelter

Dividends are taxed once you exceed the £500 dividend allowance, and capital gains above £3,000 are taxed at 18% or 24%

Use a GIA only after you have maxed your ISA (£20,000) and made full use of pension contributions worth claiming

Bed-and-ISA each April lets you shift up to £20,000 of GIA holdings into the tax shelter, gradually emptying the GIA over time