Sacrificial reforms? Advisers on pensions Budget 'loophole'

Are there loopholes in the pension reforms?

Carmen Reichman
clock • 6 min read

Claims the taxman could lose billions if savers take advantage of a loophole present in the pension freedoms announced at Budget 2014 are being overplayed, but only just, say advisers...

The government hasn't properly thought through its once-in-a-lifetime pension reforms, according to some. Indeed, measures announced at Budget 2014 to give people aged 55 or over greater access to their pension pots could wind up costing the Treasury up to £20bn a year thanks to the apparent presence of a loophole. The problem, aired most frequently by journalist John Greenwood, including at a recent House of Commons committee hearing, goes like this: The freedoms announced in March by George Osborne will permit workers aged 55 to 64 to undertake 'salary sacrifice' by paying their ...

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