In April 2009, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, announced that tax relief on pension contributions was to be restricted for high earners. Since then, it has been a long journey for employers, trustees and affected individuals, with details of the proposals being slow to emerge and a complete change of direction being announced in June 2010: the original plans for a charge affecting only those with incomes over £130,000 are now almost certain to be replaced by an approach based on a reduced annual allowance.
During July and August 2010, we asked our clients and contacts to let us know how they felt about the changes and the impact they would have on their pension schemes and remuneration strategies. We have set out our findings in this report. We also included some of the preliminary findings in our response to HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs on their recent consultation on a possible reduced annual allowance approach. There were over 130 respondents to the survey, who together have given us a cross-section of the views of the pensions industry. The respondents include finance directors, trustees and pensions managers, with backgrounds ranging from charities to FTSE 100 businesses.