Treasury publishes tax reform consultation papers and welcomes feedback on proposals

29/07/10
Financial News

Nine consultations, including papers on pensions tax relief, PAYE reform and investment trust companies were published yesterday by the Treasury.

David Gauke, exchequer secretary, said the papers were made public to help the government in becoming “more open and transparent in its approach to policy making”.

He added: “We want to make the tax system simpler and work better for the taxpayer. By reducing burdens, making the right choices and involving taxpayers, we are sending a very clear signal that Britain is open for business. That is why consultation and scrutiny of our tax policies will be the cornerstone of our tax policymaking process”.

He continued: “I want to encourage relevant parties to provide their feedback on the tax consultations we have published today”.

Under the pension tax relief plans, a lower limit of £30,000 – £45,000 with full tax relief may be introduced, significantly less than the current £255,000 annual allowance with limited tax relief.

Helen White, acting director of life and savings at the Association of British Insurers said: “The suggested lower limit of £30,000 is unworkably low and would do nothing to encourage saving for those people already disillusioned with changes to pension tax relief. We need to tackle under-saving in this country urgently – 7.7 million adults are still not saving for a pension which is extremely worrying as we face the ticking time bomb of more people retiring and living longer”.

Clearly the rules relating to pension contributions will change over the coming months, our website will monitor these updates and outline the major changes when they are announced, focusing on how they effect you.

In the meantime we offer a number of services to help you plan for your retirement including our free Retirement Forecasting Service which will help you see the current value of a pension plan, a projection of its future worth and an assessment of how it has grown . We also have our Retirement Centre which is there to help you as you near retirement.