deVere News: Chancellor Considers Pension Tax Relief Cuts

UK Chancellor Phillip Hammond is mulling over slashing higher-rate pension tax relief in a bid to find extra money for the National Health Service.

According to the Mail on Sunday, an unnamed senior government insider said Hammond has looked at the ￡38bn paid out annually in the form of pension tax relief as “one of the last remaining pots of gold we can raid”.

However, the Chancellor is likely to target “people who can afford to put tens of thousands of pounds into their schemes each year”.

The source said he could also cut tax breaks for investing in small companies, potentially hitting venture capital trust and enterprise investment scheme investments.

The Chancellor has been given a boost of around ￡10 billion in the form of an unexpected surplus, but still needs to make cuts or raise taxes in other areas to make up the shortfall.

“The run-up to this autumn’s Budget speech has already been marked by rows across Whitehall after Mr Hammond warned other big-spending Government departments that the money for the NHS would leave little scope for handouts elsewhere. There was a particularly bad-tempered response from Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, who has lobbied overtly for a generous settlement for the MoD,” reported the Mail on Sunday.

Nigel Green, founder and CEO of deVere Group, has previously said of such a move: "This attack on people’s retirement nest eggs demonstrates once again that the British government, which needs to bolster its coffers, views people’s retirement savings as easy, low-hanging fruit to be plundered."

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