Tax relief

Retirement Planner's round-up of the top pension stories this week.

RELIEVED?

The current system of pension tax relief is "unfairly skewed" leaving those on modest earnings with little reward for saving into a pension, John Lawson has said.

Tax relief on retirement savings should be cut and pensioners should have to pay National Insurance contributions, according to a think tank.

A frozen income tax threshold coupled with mass auto-enrolment will result in the annual pension allowance being cut further, meaning people should increase contributions while they can, according to Prudential.

Just over a quarter of workers earning more than £41,500 fail to claim the full 40% tax relief they are entitled to on pension contributions, according to research from Prudential.

Retirement Planner's round-up of the top pension stories this week.

TAX RELIEF

Higher rate pension tax relief has been described as being in "its final days" and of "minimal value from a social perspective" by one adviser.

The current pension tax relief set-up offers significant advantages over ISAs but is poorly understood by savers and ‘radical alternatives' should be explored, a report has concluded.