HIGHER RATE TAX RELIEF FOR PENSIONS CONTINUES

There has been much speculation that the government would further limit tax relief for pension contributions by removing higher rate tax relief. That measure would save the country £34 billion in tax but the only change announced concerns a new lower limit on amounts that can be saved in a pension when individuals have started drawing down from their private pension.

Currently the net effect of pension tax relief for a higher rate taxpayer is that saving £10,000 in a pension costs £6,000. The taxpayer pays £8,000 into their pension and the government tops this up by £2,000 with a further £2,000 deducted from the individual’s income tax liability, reducing the net cost to £6,000. For additional rate taxpayers the net cost would be just £5,500.

Remember that there is currently an annual pension input limit of £40,000 which caps the combined contributions by an individual and his or her employer. For those with high income this is tapered and can be as low as £10,000.

One new pension restriction that was announced was a measure to limit pension “recycling”. Those individuals who have started drawing down their personal pension will in future only be able to reinvest up to £4,000 in their pension.  Please contact us if you want to discuss pension planning further.