'Expensive and regressive' pension tax relief should be cut - think tank

Reform said pension tax relief is an "expensive" and "poorly targeted" policy which could be reformed to help balance the country's budget. Its paper, Mind the (fiscal) gap, said the Pensions Policy Institute estimated tax relief on private pensions is more than £35bn or 2.2% of GDP. The net cost of tax relief is estimated to be more than £23bn or 1.5% of GDP. The paper said: "There is a concern that this relief is expensive, poorly targeted and does not achieve its policy objectives. It is regressive, in that it tends to benefit higher and top rate taxpayers more, and is unlikely to ...