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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/mar/04/pensions-isa-tax-free-could-be-in-budget-despite-criticism-treasury-indicates
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| Pensions ISA could be in budget despite criticism, Treasury indicates | Pensions ISA could be in budget despite criticism, Treasury indicates |
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| Radical options for reforming Britain’s pension system at the 16 March budget are still on the table, Treasury sources have indicated, despite public criticism of plans from the pensions minister Ros Altmann. | Radical options for reforming Britain’s pension system at the 16 March budget are still on the table, Treasury sources have indicated, despite public criticism of plans from the pensions minister Ros Altmann. |
| Lady Altmann warned that controversial proposals for a “pensions ISA”, which could allow savers to take their entire pot tax free on retirement, could lead to pensioners saving too little for the later years of their retirement. | |
| Related: Workers need to put 15% of income into pension, report says | Related: Workers need to put 15% of income into pension, report says |
| “The freedom and choice reforms have put us in a place where people’s pensions can work well for them. However, tax is a natural brake on them spending their pension fund too soon,” she told the Financial Times. | “The freedom and choice reforms have put us in a place where people’s pensions can work well for them. However, tax is a natural brake on them spending their pension fund too soon,” she told the Financial Times. |
| George Osborne has already carried out wide-ranging reforms to the pensions system, abolishing rules under which pensioners had to take out an annuity – which guarantees a set level of income. | |
| But sources indicated that the chancellor is still reviewing a series of policies that could transform the pensions system, including the ISA proposal and plans for offering a single rate of tax relief on contributions for all savers. | But sources indicated that the chancellor is still reviewing a series of policies that could transform the pensions system, including the ISA proposal and plans for offering a single rate of tax relief on contributions for all savers. |
| Currently, higher rate taxpayers receive tax relief at 40% on payments into their pension pots, but basic rate taxpayers get 20%. But some within the Conservative party are alarmed at the impact on higher earners, who would lose out from the measure. | |
| A Treasury spokesman said: “We are consulting on a range of options.” A final decision will have to be made within days, as the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, which forecasts the impact of the government’s policies, will need to know which option the Treasury has chosen before 16 March. | A Treasury spokesman said: “We are consulting on a range of options.” A final decision will have to be made within days, as the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, which forecasts the impact of the government’s policies, will need to know which option the Treasury has chosen before 16 March. |
| Osborne will deliver the financial statement against the backdrop of a deteriorating outlook for the global economy, and has warned that he may have to make fresh spending cuts to meet his target of balancing the public finances by the end of the parliament in 2020. | Osborne will deliver the financial statement against the backdrop of a deteriorating outlook for the global economy, and has warned that he may have to make fresh spending cuts to meet his target of balancing the public finances by the end of the parliament in 2020. |