The abolition of the pensions Lifetime Allowance, (LTA) which was announced in the Spring Budget, releases people to save as much as they like into their schemes.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt abolished the allowance, which is the limit on how much people can build up in their pension pots over their lifetime while still benefiting from key tax incentives. The previous threshold was £1,073,100 and anything over that was subject to a tax charge of up to 55 per cent.

Necessary change

The Government had argued that the LTA change was necessary because too many highly paid professionals, including NHS consultants and GPs take early retirement, and there have been predictions that more and more older public and private sector employees would change their behaviour or retire early to avoid being hit by penalties.

The Chancellor also increased the Annual Allowance (AA), which is the total amount paid into your pension plans each year from all sources, before you have to pay additional tax charges, from £40,000 to £60,000. He has also increased the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) and Tapered Annual Allowance (TAA) from £4,000 to £10,000, and the Adjusted Income for TAA from £240,000 to £260,000.

MPAA changes

Previously, if you accessed any taxable money from your pension plan you would see your allowance reduce from £40,000 to £4,000. This is a limit on how much people over 55 could pay into a defined contribution pension with tax reliefs, once they start drawing an income from their retirement pot.

The Chancellor has increased this from £4,000 to £10,000, which might be useful for anyone who dipped into their pension plan to help top up their income during the pandemic or while living costs are so high.

TAA changes

The TAA applies where an individual has a threshold income of £200,000 and adjusted income of £240,000 (adjusted income includes all pension contributions, while threshold income excludes pension contributions).

Where the TAA applies, an individual’s AA is reduced by 50p for every £1 over the adjusted income threshold, down to the minimum level. The minimum level has now been increased to £10,000.

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