NAPF comments on Labour’s plan to restrict pensions tax relief

The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has commented on Labour’s plans to restrict tax relief on pension contributions, announced by Rt Hon Ed Miliband in his speech at the Leeds College of Music today (Friday).

Joanne Segars, Chief Executive, NAPF, said: “These incremental shifts in pension tax policy are not the right way to manage the future retirement savings of millions in the UK. Such a move by any government threatens to undermine the confidence of pension savers, employers and schemes alike. These changes are likely to affect many middle-income savers, such as senior nurses and senior teachers.

“This is not an issue on which any future government can afford to make knee-jerk policy decisions upon. We need a proper debate on tax in the broader context of pensions and retirement savings, and this should be overseen by an Independent Retirement Savings Commission to ensure the long-term needs of savers remain at the very heart of the Government’s approach.”

Labour’s proposals are to:

• Cut tax relief on incomes over £150,000 from 40% to 20%.
• Lifetime Allowance to be reduced from £1.25 million to £1 million.
• Annual Allowance to be reduced from £40,000 to £30,000.

Read the full speech on the Labour website for more information.

 

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

The NAPF is the voice of workplace pensions in the UK. We speak for over 1,300 pension schemes that provide pensions for over 17 million people and have more than £900 billion of assets. We also have 400 members from businesses supporting the pensions sector.

We aim to help everyone get more out of their retirement savings. To do this we spread best practice among our members, challenge regulation where it adds more cost than benefit and promote policies that add value for savers.

Contacts:

Lucy Grubb, Head of Media and PR, NAPF, 020 7601 1726 or 07713 073023, [email protected]

Eleanor Bennett, Press Officer, NAPF, 020 7601 1718 or 07825 171 446, [email protected]